In a stunning revelation, South Korean investigators probing last month’s devastating Jeju Air crash have discovered bird remains lodged inside both of the jet’s engines, according to a preliminary report released on Monday. The grim finding suggests the Boeing 737-800 passenger plane, which slammed into the runway at Muan International Airport on December 29th killing 179 of the 181 people onboard, may have suffered a catastrophic bird strike in the moments before the fatal impact.
Duck Remains Identified in Crash Probe
Crash scene investigators meticulously combing through the charred wreckage of Jeju Air flight 7C2216 uncovered the troubling clues within the plane’s Pratt & Whitney engines – feathers and bloodstains that DNA analysis has confirmed belong to Baikal teals, a type of migratory duck that flocks to South Korea in large numbers each winter. The six-page report from the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board did not draw any definitive conclusions about the cause of the crash, but the presence of bird remains in both engines raises the specter that a collision with a flock of ducks could have crippled the jet in the crucial final moments of its descent.
Pilots Reported Bird Strike During Landing Attempt
The preliminary report sheds new light on the chaotic final minutes of flight 7C2216, revealing that the pilots made a desperate emergency call to air traffic controllers warning of a possible bird strike as they lined up their initial landing attempt. For reasons that remain unclear, the crew then abandoned that first approach and made the unusual decision to circle back and line up for a second landing on the same runway, this time from the opposite direction – a risky maneuver that goes against the strong preference of pilots to land into the wind to aid in stability and braking.
Questions Swirl Around Ill-Fated Second Landing
Investigators are still working to piece together precisely what happened in the jet’s final seconds, but several alarming details have already emerged. The plane is said to have touched down far too late on the runway at a dangerously high speed, with its landing gear still retracted and no apparent attempt to deploy its wing flaps to slow its momentum. After careening down the tarmac, the jet smashed into a concrete barrier and a set of navigation equipment before bursting violently into flames, a scene of utter devastation from which only two passengers incredibly managed to stumble away alive.
We’re working to understand all the factors that led to this heartbreaking tragedy, and at this stage, nothing has been ruled out.
– Park Nam-soo, head of the crash investigation
Black Box Data Cut Out Minutes Before Impact
Deepening the mystery, investigators say the plane’s black box flight recorders stopped capturing data approximately four minutes before impact, depriving them of crucial information about the jet’s final moments and raising the possibility of a catastrophic onboard electrical failure. Without that data and lacking any survivors from the cockpit crew, officials are facing a painstaking puzzle as they work to determine the sequence of events that transformed a routine domestic flight into the deadliest air disaster in South Korean history.
Bird Strikes an Ongoing Danger to Aviation
While bird strikes alone rarely bring down modern jetliners, they pose a constant hazard that has led to more than 300 deaths worldwide since 1988 according to one estimate. Birds get sucked into jet engines surprisingly often, causing damage ranging from minor dents to total engine failure, and pilots train extensively on how to handle such crises. But serious strikes involving flocks of large birds are especially dangerous, as shown by the Miracle on the Hudson in 2009, when a US Airways jet lost all engine power after hitting a flock of Canada geese and had to ditch in the frigid Hudson River.
- Over 16,000 bird strikes happen per year in the US alone
- Globally, bird strike damage costs airlines over $1 billion annually
Urgent Probe as Pressure Mounts on Investigators
With urgent questions swirling around every aspect of the Christmas week catastrophe, from the pilot’s actions to potential aircraft malfunctions to airport wildlife management practices, investigators are facing intense pressure to provide answers and accountability, especially given South Korea’s painful history with avoidable disasters and ensuing public fury, such as the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking which killed 304 people. Officials have sought to reassure a skeptical public by launching a sweeping safety review of all Korean airlines while vowing to conduct a swift and utterly transparent probe and release a final report within a year.
As that painstaking process unfolds, a stunned nation is left to grieve the staggering loss of 179 souls just days before the new year, their devastating final moments preserved in haunting text messages and cockpit recordings that will forever mark December 29, 2024 as one of the darkest days in South Korea’s history. If there is any semblance of solace for the victims’ loved ones, it may come from knowing that no effort is being spared to unravel this tragedy and prevent other families from ever again enduring such unfathomable sorrow. For now, there are only questions, and the long, heartbreaking quest for healing and for answers.
