Did bird strikes contribute to plane crashes in South Korea? What we know

More than 170 people have died after one plane crashed when it landed in South Korea Sunday morning.

The Jeju Air plane skidded off the runway before colliding with a wall at Muan International Airport in the southwest of the country.

The plane, which was returning from Bangkok in Thailand, was carrying 181 people – of whom 179 have died, while two crew members were rescued from the wreckage.

The authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, which the fire service has indicated may have occurred due to a bird attack and bad weather.

The aircraft, 7C2216, was a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air, Korea’s most popular low-cost airline.

The plane arrived in Muan at about 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT).

A South Korean transport official said the plane had tried to land but was forced to hold off after air traffic control issued a bird strike warning – a warning about the risk of a collision with birds.

About two minutes later, the pilot called in a mayday and air traffic command cleared the plane to land from the opposite direction, the official said.

A passenger on the plane sent a message to a relative saying a bird “got stuck in the wing” and the plane could not land, local media reported.

A video appears to show the plane touching down without using its wheels or other landing gear. It slid down the runway and crashed into a wall before bursting into flames.

A witness told South Korean news agency Yonhap that they heard a “loud bang” followed by a “series of explosions”.

Videos from the scene show the plane burning with smoke billowing into the sky. The fire department has since extinguished the fire.

Lee Jeong-hyun, the chief of the Muan Fire Department, told a televised briefing that the tail section of the plane was identifiable, but “one cannot recognize the shape of the rest of the plane”.

He said the bird strike and bad weather may have caused the crash – but that the exact cause is still being investigated. Flight and voice recorders from the plane have been found.

The head of Jeju Air’s management said the crash was not due to “maintenance problems,” Yonhap news agency reported.

The South Korean transport department said the chief pilot on the flight had held the role since 2019 and had more than 6,800 hours of flying experience.

A bird strike is a collision between an aircraft in flight and a bird. They are very common – in the UK more than 1,400 bird strikes were reported in 2022, of which only around 100 affected aircraft, according to data from the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority.

The best-known bird attack occurred in 2009, when a Airbus plane crashes into New York’s Hudson River after encountering a flock of geese. All 155 passengers and crew survived.

Professor Doug Drury, who teaches aviation at CQUniversity Australia, wrote in an article for The conversation this summer that Boeing planes have turbofan engines that can be seriously damaged by a bird strike.

He said pilots are trained to be especially alert early in the morning or at sunset, when the birds are most active.

The plane had 175 passengers and six crew members. Two of the passengers were Thai, and the rest are believed to have been South Korean, authorities said. Many are believed to have returned from a Christmas holiday in Thailand.

The official death toll is 179 – making it the deadliest plane crash in South Korea’s history.

All passengers and four crew members died.

The authorities have so far identified at least 88 bodies.

Five of the people who died were children under the age of 10. The youngest passenger was a three-year-old boy and the oldest was 78, authorities said, citing the passenger manifest.

South Korea’s National Fire Authority said two members of the flight crew – a man and a woman – survived the crash. They were found in the tail of the plane after the crash and taken to hospital, it said.

More than 1,500 emergency personnel have been deployed as part of the recovery effort, including 490 firefighters and 455 police officers. They have searched the area around the runway for parts of the plane and those on board.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok has declared a special disaster zone in Muan, making central government funds available to the local government and victims.

All flights to and from Muan International Airport have been cancelled.

Families of the victims of the crash have traveled to the airport hoping to find out what happened to their loved ones. Video footage from Reuters shows officials reading the names of the victims aloud.

The airport authorities and the Red Cross have set up more than a dozen tents at the airport where bereaved families can grieve in private.

Sounds of crying echoed through the terminal. Some are frustrated by how long it is taking to identify the bodies.

Jeju Air has apologized to families. Its chief executive said at a press conference that the airline had no history of accidents. Sunday’s crash is believed to be the only fatality since the airline was launched in 2005.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has expressed its condolences to those affected.

Choi, South Korea’s acting president, said: “I express my deepest condolences to the many victims in the incident. I will do everything I can for the injured to recover quickly.”

The government has declared a period of national mourning for the country for the next seven days, during which flags at government offices will be lowered.