Jeju Air flight 7C2216, arriving from the Thai capital Bangkok with 175 passengers and six crew on board, was trying to land shortly after 9am (8am, Singapore time) on Sunday at the airport in the south of the country.
Investigators are examining bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors in the crash, fire officials have said. Experts say many questions remain, including why the plane, powered by two CFM 56-7B26 engines, appeared to be travelling so fast and why its landing gear did not appear to be down when it skidded down the runway and into a wall.
CFM International is a joint venture between GE Aerospace and France’s Safran.
On Monday, transport ministry officials said as the pilots made a scheduled approach they told air traffic control the aircraft had suffered a bird strike, shortly after the control tower gave them a warning birds were spotted in the vicinity.
The pilots then declared mayday and signalled their intention to go around shortly before the aircraft came down on the runway in a belly landing and crashed into a structure at the end of the runway.
Officials are investigating what role the at the end of the runway to help in landing, played in the crash, including the embankment on which it was standing, transport ministry officials told a media briefing.
The crash killed mostly local residents who were returning from holidays in Thailand, while two Thai nationals also died.
On Monday morning, investigators were trying to identify some of the last remaining victims, as anguished families waited inside the Muan airport terminal.
Source: CNA
