SEOUL: Both engines of the Jeju Air plane that crashed last month contained duck remains, according to a preliminary report on Monday (Jan 27), with authorities still trying to determine what caused the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil.
The six-page report released by South Korean authorities a month after the crash said both engines of the Boeing 737-800 jet contained DNA from Baikal Teals, a type of migratory duck that flies to South Korea for winter in huge flocks.
But the report provided no initial conclusions about what may have caused the plane to land without its landing gear deployed, and why flight data recorders stopped recording in the final four minutes of the flight.
The Jeju Air flight from Bangkok on Dec 29 overshot Muan Airport’s runway as it made an emergency belly landing and crashed into an embankment containing navigation equipment, called localisers, killing all but two of the 181 people and crew members on board.
“After the crash into the embankment, fire and a partial explosion occurred. Both engines were buried in the embankment’s soil mound, and the fore fuselage scattered up to 30-200m from the embankment,” the report said, providing some new pictures of the accident site.
The localiser aids navigation of an aircraft making an approach to the runway, and the structure built of reinforced concrete and earth at Muan airport supporting the system’s antennae likely contributed to the high death toll, experts have said.
The investigation will tear down the engines, examine components in depth, analyse in-flight and air traffic control data, and investigate the embankment, localisers and evidence of bird strike, the report said about its next steps.
“These all-out investigation activities aim to determine the accurate cause of the accident,” it said.
Source: CNA
