The Korea Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) met with families of the victims of the December 2024 Jeju Air crash at Muan Airport last week to provide a preliminary report on the cause of the accident.
ARAIB representatives told the families that the pilot should have shut down the right engine, which was severely damaged by the bird strike, but instead mistakenly switched off the left engine, which was functioning normally.
Cockpit voice recordings show a pilot ordering the shutdown of "engine number two", the right engine. However, flight data indicates that engine number one, on the left, was shut down. The ARAIB suggests the pilot may have confused the two engines in the emergency.
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The scene of the Jeju Air crash at Muan Airport, South Korea, in December 2024. Photo: AP |
The scene of the Jeju Air crash at Muan Airport, South Korea, in December 2024. Photo: AP
After the accident, both engines were sent to France in March for detailed analysis. The analysis showed no abnormalities in the left engine; its electronic control system was functioning normally, indicating the shutdown was due to human action, not a technical malfunction.
The pilot also activated the fire suppression system on the left engine, preventing its reactivation during the flight. This led to a complete loss of thrust and power from both engines during landing.
The ARAIB also confirmed the plane's landing gear deployment mechanism was not activated, suggesting the pilot did not attempt to lower the landing gear during the emergency landing. The agency will further investigate the pilots' training procedures and emergency response capabilities.
The ARAIB initially planned to release the preliminary findings to the press immediately after meeting with the families but canceled the press conference due to strong objections from the families.
"They are ignoring issues like the concrete wall at the end of the runway and the possibility of technical errors. They are simply blaming the pilot, which is unacceptable," said a relative of one of the victims.
The moment the Jeju Air plane veered off the runway, crashed into a wall, and caught fire at Muan Airport on 29/12/2024. Video: MBC
According to Chosun Daily, such serious pilot errors are rare but have occurred before. In 2015, a TransAsia Airways flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Taipei, Taiwan, due to a pilot mistakenly shutting down the wrong engine, killing 43 of the 58 people on board.
The Jeju Air plane, carrying 181 people, suffered a bird strike in the right engine while attempting to land at Muan Airport in South Jeolla province on 29/12/2024.
The aircraft aborted the landing and applied power but failed to gain altitude, likely due to the erroneous shutdown of the left engine. The plane then circled at low altitude and attempted a belly landing on the opposite end of the runway.
The Boeing 737-800 was unable to decelerate, ran off the runway, and crashed into a concrete wall at the end of the runway. The plane broke apart and caught fire, resulting in 179 deaths. This was the deadliest aviation accident on South Korean territory.
Ngoc Anh (Chosun Daily, Reuters)
