The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Committee under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korea released a preliminary investigation report on the Jeju Air crash on the 27th. The report speculated that the engines on both sides of the aircraft ingested Baikal teals, a migratory bird common in South Korea during winter.
This is the first formal investigation report released by the committee since the accident.
The report shows that 4 minutes and 7 seconds before the crashed aircraft hit airport facilities, both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder had stopped recording. At that time, the aircraft was flying over the sea at a speed of approximately 298 km/h and an altitude of about 151 meters, about 2 kilometers from the runway of Muan Airport. It is speculated that at this time, the engines on both sides ingested Baikal teals. After the incident, feathers and traces of blood from Baikal teals were found inside both engines, but details such as the exact time of the bird strike are still to be confirmed.
The report shows that 6 seconds after the black boxes stopped recording, the pilot issued an emergency distress signal and simultaneously pulled up to altitude for a go-around. The aircraft flew over to the left side of the original landing runway, then turned right and approached Runway 19 from the opposite direction. It belly-landed without the landing gear being deployed, eventually running off the runway and crashing into airport concrete azimuth facilities (localizer antenna) before exploding and catching fire.
However, the report does not explain the reason why the landing gear was not deployed.
According to Korean media reports, the report has been submitted to the United States and France, where the airframe and engines of the accident aircraft were manufactured, as well as to Thailand, where nationals were among the victims.
Flight 7C2216 of Jeju Air, which flew from Bangkok, Thailand, crashed at Muan Airport in South Jeolla Province at around 9:07 am local time on December 29 last year. On board were 175 passengers and 6 crew members, with only 2 crew members surviving, while the remaining 179 people all perished.