South Korea inspects landing aid installations following Jeju Air accident
Aviation authorities in South Korea have reported that seven out of 14 South Korean airports inspected to date have been found to have installed concrete structures similar to those involved in the recent fatal landing accident involving a Jeju Air Boeing 737,800, according to a preliminary inspection report released on January 13, 2024.
On December 29, 2024, the Jeju Air flight from Bangkok made an emergency landing at Muan International Airport (MWX) without its landing gear extended which resulted in a high-speed touchdown. However, the aircraft struck a concrete mound housing the localizer landing aid antenna at the end of the runway and became engulfed in a post-impact fire. The accident claimed 179 of the 181 lives onboard with two flight attendants surviving.
The recently conducted South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport review of landing aid installation structures at the country’s airports revealed that nine facilities at seven airports have localizer housings that would be unbreakable upon an impact with an aircraft and therefore require urgent improvements, according to The Korea Herald.
Kevin Brine / ShutterstockThe Ministry’s inspection found that Gwangju Airport (KWJ), Yeosu Airport (RSU), and Pohang Gyeongju Airport (KPO) each have concrete mounds supporting their localizer installations, while Gimhae International Airport (PUS) that serves Busan and Sacheon Airport (HIN) both were found to have concrete foundations protruding above ground level. Jeju Airport (CJU) uses a solid H-beam steel structure, according to the report.
The inspection found that a further 26 installations at seven other airports around the country were buried in the ground, which significantly reduced the risk of collision. However, Yangyang Airport (YNY) was found to have subsided ground beneath its facility, and the Ministry has instructed the airport authority to correct this immediately.
“We are initiating a special safety inspection of major airport facilities from January 13 to January 21, 2025,” said the Ministry statement. “Based on the findings, comprehensive safety measures will be developed, with localizer facility improvements targeted for completion by year-end [2025].”
In another move taken in response to the Jeju Air accident, the Ministry has also been undertaking a maintenance review of all the Boeing 737-800s being operated by South Korean operators. While most major carriers, including Jeju Air, T’way Air, Jin Air, Eastar Jet, Air Incheon, and Korean Air, were all found to have complied with maintenance protocols for systems including landing gear and engines, some had breached regulations.
Jeffry Surianto / ShutterstockViolations were reported to have included aircraft exceeding inspection intervals, operators neglecting to repair aircraft defects promptly, and improper passenger boarding procedures. While the Ministry did not disclose the identities of the non-compliant airlines, they did say that strict enforcement and legal penalties would result.
Furthermore, the Ministry has pledged to broaden its investigation by conducting a comprehensive safety review by the end of January 2025 which will be broadened out to include all aircraft models operated by 11 domestic carriers operating in the South Korean air travel market.
The publishing of the report by the Ministry comes just days after it was announced that the flight data recorders aboard the Jeju Air Boeing 737 failed to record the final minutes of flight data. Both the aircraft’s flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) only captured data up until around four minutes before the plane collided with an airport embankment. The South Korean authorities said efforts by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the US had been unable to recover the missing data in the four minutes before the crash landing.
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South Korea inspects landing aid installations following Jeju Air accident
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Aviation authorities in South Korea have reported that seven out of 14 South Korean airports inspected to date…
The post South Korea inspects landing aid installations following Jeju Air accident appeared first on AeroTime.
