Jeju Air Crash Day 2: More Questions than Answers

‍DALLAS — Two days have passed since Jeju Air (7C) Flight 7C2216 crashed. The accident of the 7C Boeing 737-800 has become the worst in South Korea in terms of death toll in over 20 years. 

Of the 181 on board, only the two flight attendants at the rear of the aircraft survived. The failed crash-landing of Flight 2216 has quickly become a puzzling accident, further complicated by South Korea’s political disarray.

Before we explore the questions that have yet to be answered, let us first establish the facts.

The Facts

On December 28, 2024, Flight 7C2216 was a scheduled passenger flight from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) to Muan International Airport (MWX), in southwest South Korea. The flight carried 175 passengers and six crew members, including 179 South Koreans and two Thai nationals.

The aircraft operating the flight was HL8088, a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800. It was delivered to Ryanair (FR)  in September 2009 before joining 7C in February 2017. Available flight data suggests that the aircraft had flown multiple times daily for at least the month before the crash.

Besides leaving 59 minutes late from Bangkok, the flight was largely uneventful, making up half of that lost hour in the air on the way to Muan. It was in the air for roughly four and a half hours, cruising at 38,000 feet. At no point did the pilots declare an emergency by squawking 7700.

At 8:57 am Muan time, Flight 7C2216 had lined up for runway zero one at MWX. The weather was sunny with patchy clouds, three-knot wind from the east-southeast, and an on-ground temperature of two degrees Celsius, or 36 degrees Fahrenheit. MWX's runway was also uncontaminated, with multiple flights landing that day without incident.

The aircraft’s descent and landing were surprisingly well-documented from multiple angles. As the plane approached runway zero one, the pilots reportedly radioed air traffic control regarding a potential bird strike. At this time, video footage observed that Flight 7C2216’s right engine was experiencing difficulties, and flames were leaving the engine’s exhaust.

One minute later, at 8:58 am, the pilots declared a Mayday and attempted to perform an emergency landing. However, they were forced to abort and go around for a second attempt. During the plane’s second attempt, its landing gear was not extended or failed to deploy. The aircraft then made a belly landing, touching down at 9:03 am.

The plane landed roughly halfway down Muan’s 8,000-foot/2,500-meter runway, significantly reducing its available stopping distance. The thrust reversers were deployed; however, the aircraft overshot the runway, still at considerable speed. It left the runway and collided with the runway approach aids before crashing through a wall on the airport’s northern perimeter.

A fire started immediately, and the plane was destroyed. The tail was the only part of the wreckage recognizable as an aircraft.

Unanswered Questions

Since details of the crash came to light, aviation commentators and professional investigators alike have been puzzled by the events that led to this disaster. The main question is why the landing gear and flaps were not extended.

Available data suggests that the pilots did not radio air traffic control about a problem of this nature. This raises the question of whether the landing gear and flaps were missed on the pre-landing checklist for some reason or were malfunctioning.

Furthermore, is the birdstrike somehow linked to the landing gear not being extended, whether it be through mechanical failure or human error?

Aircraft are, after all, designed to withstand heavy birdstrikes across the fuselage and in the engines. Furthermore, aircraft are designed to survive belly landings. If MWX was not equipped to handle emergencies of this nature, then why not divert to any number of nearby airports with longer runways?

While the aircraft was on its first approach to the runway, at 8:59 local time, it ceased transponding its ADSB signal, which supports the suggestion of a broader systems failure; how this bird strike and a more expansive system's failure could be linked puzzles air accident investigators.

While both black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, have since been recovered from the wreckage, they have reportedly suffered extensive damage from the impact—it may be a while before they can be read thoroughly.

Aftermath

The human toll has been extensive. Entire families have been reportedly wiped out. The terminal at Maun has been filled with relatives awaiting news on their loved ones. 

While all 179 bodies have been recovered, the process of identifying them is a far more time-consuming process. Family members have been reportedly asked to give DNA samples to help speed up the process.

Jeju Air CEO Kim E-Bae gave a press briefing immediately after the crash, in which he profusely apologized and stated that he felt a “great responsibility for the accident.” 

He noted that "the cause of the accident is difficult to confirm at this time, and we are awaiting the official investigation results from the relevant government agencies. " He added, "We will spare no effort to manage the accident promptly and support the families of the passengers while cooperating fully with the government to determine the cause of the accident." The airline has also denied rumors of maintenance negligence.

Korean acting president Choi Sang-Mok ordered that the country observe a seven-day mourning period in response to the crash. The government has also assigned a dedicated public official to ensure they receive personalized support.

Investigation

Given South Korea's current condition, concerns have also surfaced regarding the Korean government’s ability to conduct an investigation. The country went through three presidents in two weeks. Mr Choi Sang-Mok, the acting president, was also the country’s finance minister. 

This unprecedented situation in Korean politics could mean further confusion over who is accountable to whom and how the bureaucratic system should be conducted, further hindering the search for answers regarding the Flight 7C2216 crash.

Furthermore, MWX has come under criticism from British aviation expert David Learmount over the concrete support structure the plane hit at the end of the runway. The structure is used for the airport’s instrument landing system, or ILS.

While speaking to Sky News, Learmount stated regarding the pilot flying, "Given the situation he was in, he carried out as good a landing as he possibly could.” However, regarding the airport’s ILS support structure, he stated that “that kind of structure should not be there.”

He went on to state that, while that is where the ILS is supposed to be, they should not have been embedded into something as hard as that, describing its presence as “unbelievably awful.” 

The crash poses many difficult questions, and anything would be speculative until a thorough investigation sheds light on what occurred. In the meantime, be sure to receive updates across all of our social media outlets and here on YouTube as and when new information becomes available.