South Korea to Overhaul Runway Structures After Jeju Air Crash
South Korea plans to alter structures near runways at several airports after last month’s Jeju Air crash, when a plane that landed on its belly skidded into a concrete wall before exploding into a fireball.At seven of South Korea’s 14 domestic and international airports, structures that house antennas and other devices that help pilots navigate did not meet safety standards, the transport ministry said on Monday.The safety inspection was conducted after a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport on Dec.29, killing 179 of the 181 people onboard.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the accident, a process that has been hindered by the failure of the flight recorder to capture the final four minutes of data.Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 descended without its wing flaps or landing gear deployed, then skidded beyond the runway, slamming into a concrete barrier that contained a localizer, an antenna array used to guide aircraft during landing.Aviation safety experts have suggested that the collision with the barrier may have contributed to the high death toll.
It was the deadliest plane accident on South Korean soil.Immediately after the crash, officials in South Korea said the barrier near the runway met safety regulations.But in the days that followed, they said they would review whether the placement and structure of the barrier needed to be altered.The transport ministry’s review showed that at seven of the country’s airports — including the one in Muan — structures with navigation devices were built with hard materials, such as concrete or steel, that could make damage worse if a plane were to collide with them after overshooting or veering off a runway.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
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