A Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crashed while attempting a landing in south-western South Korea following a bird strike.
This article is not part of an official investigation, we just will try to answer questions and make assumptions about the Boeing 737-800 HL8088 crash on Sunday, December 29 2024. According to the ministry, the airport’s control tower alerted the flight crew about potential bird strike risks at 8:57 a.m. Just one minute later, at 8:58 a.m., the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft issued a mayday distress signal.
On approach
The flight #7C2216 suffered a bird strike at 200m high on approach to the airport causing the right engine stall. The pilots were advised by the tower about the incident and climbed.
What is an engine (compressor) stall?
If the airflow gets disturbed, whatever the reason (bird ingestion most likely), it might cause a high angle of attack over the blades until it stall and a reversal of the airflow. When the compressor stalls, the airflow is no longer flowing normally through the combustion chamber and the turbines.
Belly landing
The Boeing 737-800 performed the landing on runway 19 at 09:00 am with gear up and the flaps weren’t extended either. However gear up landing shouldn’t be a mass fatality event. Muan International Airport Runway is 2,800 meters long, it’s shorter than usual length and it looks the aircraft touched down by the middle of it.
The flight didn’t circle long
In landing gear issue, the pilots usually circle for a while to burn or dump fuel to reduce the amount of kerosene in the tanks before landing. In the Jeju crash, the aircraft hit a wall and exploded.
Gravity extension in emergency
If suffering hydraulic issue, the landing gear can still be extended by gravity, controlled by the gear lever on the forward instrument panel. Each red handle is directly connected to the mechanical up lock of that set of wheels. When pilots pull the handle, the cable routes down to the wheels and directly pulls the uplock pin out of the locked position. This releases the wheels and allows them to free fall down under their own weight.
However with a single engine bird strike, it’s unlikely to take down all hydraulics since they’re typically isolated.
Concrete wall
The collision with the wall that supported a guidance system at the end of the runway was the “defining moment” of the disaster. It holds the instrument landing system which helps pilots land at night or when visibility is poor. As it reached the end of the airfield and struck the wall, the plane was almost instantly destroyed. At most airports these systems are placed on collapsible structures.
Situation in the cabin
It’s possible that a fire or smoke in the cabin may have prompted the pilots to land as soon as possible. Also, pilots were probably feeling super overwhelmed and dealing with a bunch of problems at once, which could explain why they didn’t take extra steps.
Conclusion
The Captain of the crashed plane was reported to have been working for Jeju Air since March 2019, and had over 6,820 hours of flight time. The co-pilot was reported to have flown over 1,650 hours and took the position in February 2023.
A team from the United States will assist South Korean aviation authorities with their investigation of the crash, according to a statement from the National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday. The N.T.S.B. said that the American team will include people from the safety board and the Federal Aviation Administration, and from Boeing, the company that made the plane that crashed.
