Why was there a wall on the finish of the runway

Aviation consultants are questioning the function of an airport design that positioned a mound of filth and a concrete wall previous the tip of a runway, which Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 slammed into Sunday morning, killing all however two of the 181 individuals on board.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, belly-landed on the runway after an in a single day flight, apparently with flaps and touchdown gear retracted. The jetliner burst into flames after hitting the filth and wall, the place a localizer, which guides planes onto the runway, had been put in.

“Actually that made it troublesome to cease the plane safely,” stated Todd Curtis, founding father of Air Secure Media, which tracks aviation accidents and different incidents. Curtis labored at Boeing for practically a decade as a security engineer.

It would take crash investigators months if not longer to uncover the reason for the crash, the worst-ever air catastrophe in South Korea and the deadliest crash in years. They are going to look at every part from plane upkeep information to pilot scheduling to cockpit voice recorders.

Preliminary proof suggests a fowl strike might have performed a key function in potential engine loss. Consultants cautioned the investigation is within the very early levels.

Some aviation consultants say the fatalities might have been minimized had the aircraft not collided with the concrete wall.

In video of the Jeju Air flight’s touchdown, “you see the airplane skidding alongside, it’s slowing down, they’re slowing down and every part goes fairly nicely up till the place they hit” the wall, stated John Cox, an aviation security advisor and a Boeing 737 pilot.

Cox stated he suspects the reason for demise for a lot of the passengers on board is “going to be blunt drive trauma of hitting the wall.”

Boundaries previous airport runways are widespread and really useful.

At New York’s LaGuardia Airport and others, for instance, there are engineered materials arresting methods, or EMAS, put in — a crushable materials that slows down a aircraft past the runway and prevents it rolling into extra harmful areas. In 2016, then-vice presidential candidate Mike Pence’s aircraft overran the runway at LaGuardia and was in the end stopped by EMAS.

The barrier on the fringe of the runway at Muan Worldwide Airport in South Korea didn’t look like frangible, or have the flexibility to interrupt aside, in response to video footage and knowledgeable evaluation, one thing investigators are prone to deal with.