The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024.
Kim Hong-ji | Reuters
Aviation experts are questioning the role of an airport design that positioned a mound of dirt and a concrete wall past the end of a runway, which Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 slammed into Sunday morning, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.
The plane, a Boeing 737-800, belly-landed on the runway at Muan International Airport in southwestern South Korea after an overnight flight, apparently with flaps and landing gear retracted. The jetliner burst into flames after hitting the dirt and wall, where a localizer, which guides planes onto the runway, had been installed.
“Certainly that made it difficult to stop the aircraft safely,” said Todd Curtis, founder of Air Safe Media, which tracks aviation accidents and other incidents. Curtis worked at Boeing for nearly a decade as a safety engineer.
It will take crash investigators months if not longer to uncover the cause of the crash, the worst-ever air disaster in South Korea and the deadliest crash in years. They will examine everything from aircraft maintenance records to pilot scheduling to engine to cockpit voice recorders.
Family members of the victims of the Jeju Air crash react as officials hold a briefing at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024.
Kim Soo-hyeon | Reuters
Initial evidence suggests a bird strike could have played a key role in possible engine loss. Experts cautioned the investigation is in the very early stages.
Some aviation experts say the fatalities could have been minimized had the plane not collided with the concrete wall.
In video of the Jeju Air flight’s landing, “you see the airplane skidding along, it is slowing down, they’re slowing down and everything is going pretty well up until where they hit” the wall, said John Cox, an aviation safety consultant and a Boeing 737 pilot.
Cox said he suspects the cause of death for most of the passengers on board is “going to be blunt force trauma of hitting the wall.”
Barriers past airport runways are common and recommended by international and other aviation authorities.
In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration calls for a safety area of about 500 feet wide and 1,000 feet past the end of the runway to limit damage should an aircraft overrun the runway. But the FAA says there are other mitigation methods under its Runway Safety Area Program because many U.S. runways were built before the standard was set.
“Although the original RSA improvement projects are complete, the program continues to evolve in order to address safety risk and plan for future improvements,” the agency says.
At New York’s LaGuardia Airport and others, for example, there are engineered material arresting systems, or EMAS, installed — a crushable material that slows down a plane beyond the runway and prevents it rolling into more dangerous areas. In 2016, then-vice presidential candidate Mike Pence’s plane overran a runway at LaGuardia and was ultimately stopped by EMAS.
The barrier at the edge of the runway at Muan International Airport did not appear to be frangible, or have the ability to break apart, according to video footage and expert analysis, something investigators are likely to focus on.
