Less than a week after the E190 "accident", now a B738 has a tragic runway excursion. Jeju Air 2216, VTBS-RKJB, 181 souls on board, only two confirmed alive. 

Peace for the souls of the ones who didn't make it 🙏🏻

Link: https://avherald.com/h?article=52225189&opt=0

There are some videos available with disturbing images. Please understand if I don't post them here.

Edited December 29, 20241 yr by Luis Hernandez

FR24 removed the track. Strange.

Apparently moved here: 

https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/jeju-air-2216-muan/

Holy cow...the plane travelled the 460 ft from the end of the overrun to the localizer antenna array in ~1.8 sec--256 fps or 151 knots when it hit the berm and concrete wall that the antennas were mounted on.

No gear, no flaps, and no spoilers out.  The jet appears to have landed long and very hot, skidding down the runway in a significantly nose-high attitude, so the wings were still producing a fair amount of lift, reducing the friction between the acft and the ground and increasing the stopping distance further.

Not sure why the antennas were mounted on such a substantial elevated structure...at 150+ knots, that jet might just as well have flown into the side of a mountain.  In the US, that berm and antenna structure would have been inside the 500 x 1000' runway safety area, where the antennas would have to be installed on frangible mounts no more than three inches above-grade.  That said, even if the berm/concrete wall supporting the array were 150' more distant and just outside the US-spec RSA, the jet departed the prepared surface going so fast the result would not have been different.

 

4 hours ago, Bob Scott said:

Not sure why the antennas were mounted on such a substantial elevated structure...at 150+ knots, that jet might just as well have flown into the side of a mountain.  In the US, that berm and antenna structure would have been inside the 500 x 1000' runway safety area, where the antennas would have to be installed on frangible mounts no more than three inches above-grade.  That said, even if the array were 150' more distant and just outside the US-spec RSA, the jet was going so fast the result would not have been different.

 

My guess for the reason why the equipment was mounted on a reinforced concrete wall is to protect infrastructure from bombs considering that South Korea is still technically at war with North Korea and Airports are valid military targets. This airport seems to have a lot of concrete and watch towers visible from Google Maps

I remember back in the 80s a company I used to work for work for had to install bomb resistant hangar doors at an airport in Northern England that was being used by the USAF, they were designed to protect an aircraft in the hangar if the runway was hit by a bomb. I am thinking this airport was reinforcing vital infrastructure as well so it can be operational as quick as possible following a bombing.

The internet is buzzing as to the reason for that wall, my guess it this is a nation in high preparedness for war, and reinforcing vital infrastructure is common practice for them

If you  look at this image from Google Earth  below, the concrete wall holding the antennas is also covered in a mound of earth, which makes it as strong as a fortress wall, you can also see the one of the guard towers and the concrete perimeter walls, and the perimeter lighting, this airport is heavily fortified:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/2oHNhXbgs9foT22A8

only a nation prepared for a war would go to these levels of security 

Looks as though perhaps reversers were engaged? Why no gear from a bird strike? odd.

Edited December 29, 20241 yr by Torkermax

This is a strange one. When I first saw this, I thought it was fake...just too weird.

Why was the gear up?

Why were the flaps/slats and spoilers not deployed at all?

Why does it seem the engines are at full power (just the reverser deployed on right engine perhaps)?

Did the crew panic? Were they planning on a low pass and f'd up? Did they forget to lower the gear and tried to go around after realizing the mistake? (note how the nose is pitched up as they move along the runway) If they were 'stuck' in that configuration, why not divert to the longest runway available. (that airfield is about 6500ft long)

To quote Moe Howard "Something's rotten in Denmark".

Edited December 29, 20241 yr by RichieFly
clarification on point of interest, or something

1 hour ago, RichieFly said:

This is a strange one. When I first saw this, I thought it was fake...just too weird.

Why was the gear up?

Why were the flaps/slats and spoilers not deployed at all?

Why does it seem the engines are at full power (just the reverser deployed on right engine perhaps)?

Did the crew panic? Were they planning on a low pass and f'd up? Did they forget to lower the gear and tried to go around after realizing the mistake? (note how the nose is pitched up as they move along the runway) If they were 'stuck' in that configuration, why not divert to the longest runway available. (that airfield is about 6500ft long)

To quote Moe Howard "Something's rotten in Denmark".

The runway at RKJB is 9186 ft long.  But I agree that something seriously does not compute here.  Assuming the flight recorders were intact enough to recover their data, they're going to tell an interesting, and (my guess) horrifying story.

12 minutes ago, Bob Scott said:

The runway at RKJB is 9186 ft long.  But I agree that something seriously does not compute here.  Assuming the flight recorders were intact enough to recover their data, they're going to tell an interesting, and (my guess) horrifying story.

It sure doesn't, Bob; you would suspect hydraulic failure, but the 737 has a manual gear extension.  Also, how do you get a total hydraulic failure from a bird strike?  Maybe something impacted the pilots visibility in the cockpit; lots of questions to answers. Regardless, its very sad!

Interesting how many civilians were able to capture video of the incident.  Of all I've viewed, perhaps most compelling is this one showing the aircraft coming from the north (the 19 approach end), gear and flaps were up... clean airplane, and then using so much of the runway length before landing on its belly.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0mHOP-Cp3I

I was off on the  runway length.  Thanks for the correction.

  As usual, Juan Brown has an  excellent overview. 

In the preliminary report of the incident, the South Korean investigators today revealed that bird DNA was found in BOTH engines.  Mention also was made of the concrete reinforced localizer mound🤬, as well as the specifics about when the FDR and CVR ceased functioning.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/duck-dna-both-engines-jeju-air-plane-crashed-report-says-rcna189367