Photo : YONHAP News
A New York Times(NYT) analysis suggests pilot decisions may have worsened the Jeju Air crash at Muan International Airport, while also pointing to airport safety failures and a concrete mound near the runway as key factors in the disaster that killed 179 out of 181 people aboard.
In an investigation analysis published Friday, the NYT said the pilots appear to have worsened the crisis by acting too quickly, rushing into trouble that may well have been avoidable.
It said the pilots’ decision to abort an initial attempt to land the Boeing aircraft, throttle up the engines and climb after spotting a flock of birds may have been their first mistake, citing Boeing’s earlier warning that thrust needed for a go-around increased the risk of engine damage from birds.
The analysis said the pilots likely made their second mistake by hastily shutting down the left engine, instead of the right one that was more severely damaged from the bird strike.
The NYT also mentioned Muan Airport’s failure to meet bird strike prevention guidelines and to alert air traffic controllers and the pilots in advance about the presence of the birds.
It assessed that the pilots had made “an extraordinary accomplishment” in belly-landing on the runway, but that a concrete mound at the end of the runway, which never should have been there in the first place, sealed the flight’s ill fate.