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28 Jul 2025 By travelandtourworld
A new report of the Jeju Air disaster at Muan International airport in South Korea has brought to light a stunning revelation: one of the two engines in the plane was loaded and operational during the 181-people-fatal crash on Dec 30, 2024. The Boeing 737-800, which was coming from Bangkok, also had a bird strike, which led to the belly landing, an overshoot of the runway and a crash into a concrete embankment that set off a deadly fire. With one engine still working, questions are circulating about pilot decision-making, engine performance and the properties of infrastructure at the airport. Here’s what we know so far.
The probe into the crash, conducted by the ARAIB (South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board), has come up with an important finding: despite being hit by a bird, the aircraft’s right engine didn’t cease to be operational. With open fires and black smoke coming out of one engine, that engine still had enough power to keep flying. The new information has complicated the investigation, raising questions about the pilots’ decision to shut down the left engine not long after it was struck by the birds.
Its right engine was in worse shape than we thought, but better than we feared. What prompted the pilots to shut down the left engine 19 seconds after the bird strike isn’t clear, particularly since that engine was less damaged. The full investigation is not scheduled until June 2026, but this bombshell has already complicated the probe.
After the bird strike, the Boeing 737-800 had to get back to Muan Airport, and it tried to land toward the opposite direction that it flew in. Landing gear was raised in this action, and the plane struck concrete wall, and a huge fireball erupted, and 179 people died. Following the crash, only two survivors were located.
The belly landing and retraction of the landing gear, which brought the plane back to Muan airport, was a key stage in the catastrophe. The investigation is still examining what the pilots did during those critical seconds.
The Jeju Air incident is reminiscent of the notorious 1989 Kegworth disaster in the UK, where pilots inadvertently shut down a functioning engine on a Boeing 737-400, causing the deaths of 47 people. The crash led to substantial alterations in cockpit communication and emergency protocol. The Jeju Air crash is a reminder of those concerns; preliminary information suggests an analogous mistake may have played a role in the disaster.
Analysts have also said the pilots feared the right engine was malfunctioning, a mistake that would have led to the disaster. The information taken from the cockpit recorder and flight computer is consistent with this theory, though no specific cause has been determined.
The initial reports have established that the bird hit was responsible for the crash. Duck feathers and blood were found in both engines, highlighting the harm from colliding with birds. But experts observed that though both engines were hit, the right-side engine was more seriously damaged. This suggests that the bird strike had a bigger impact on the plane’s functioning than previously believed.
More analysis is pending in the final report, but the investigation is still exploring whether the bird strike could have created significant enough engine trouble to make it worth shutting off one of the engines.
The bird strike ratio at Muan Airport, where the crash took place, was relatively high at 0.09 percent, more than other major South Korean airports like Gimpo. The development has brought demands for better bird management, particularly considering the position of a nature reserve near the airport. The runway, coded number 4, is supposed to have a 240-metre safety area, which the embankment, which occupies the landing area, has called the safety of the airport into question. The investigation is focused on whether the embankment, which supported navigation equipment, contributed to the severity of the crash and subsequent fatalities in any way.
The airport has come under pressure to improve its bird management structures and review its facilities in order to implement safety measures comparable to global standards.
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Relatives of passengers on the doomed flight are dismayed by the conclusions presented until now, particularly the focus on pilot error. They say that the inquiry is blaming the pilots prematurely without fully exploring other potential causes, such as mechanical failures of the aircraft or the safety infrastructure at the airport.
Meanwhile, the Jeju Air pilots’ union has similarly cried foul, saying the ARAIB’s interim report implies that the left engine surge was minor and that it is not as relevant a cause in the crisis. They maintain that the focus needs to be more on the engine’s own actions and on what led to the crash.
Meanwhile, Jeju Air’s reputation is on the line, and Boeing, as well as engine manufacturers GE and Safran, may be subjected to more scrutiny down the line as the probe continues. Muan Airport safety has also come under question and there are talks being conducted to replace rigid structures with impact absorbing materials at a number of airports – Muan included.
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