The Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 that made an emergency landing at Muan International Airport in South Korea had duck remains in both engines, a preliminary report investigating the December 29, 2024 crash said.
According to the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), which is investigating the cause of the accident that killed 179 of the 181 people on board, the pilots reported a bird strike shortly after the airport tower warned them about birds in their path.
Flight HL8088 first made contact with the tower at 08:55 (local time), when the aircraft was instructed to land on runway 01 (south). Three minutes later, the tower warned of the presence of birds and 60 seconds later, the voice recorders (CVR) and flight data recorders (FDR) stopped working.
Six seconds later, the pilots made an emergency declaration reporting a bird strike.
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The crew then decided to land the aircraft on the opposite runway (19). As a video of the accident showed, the Boeing 737 landed on its belly and veered off the runway, hitting an embankment where the localizers were installed.
The impact caused a fire and a partial explosion. Both engines were buried while the fuselage was scattered over a 200-meter radius of the embankment. The impact occurred at 09:03 (local time), which meant that the recordings stopped 4 minutes before the accident.
Duck feathers and blood
Investigators examined the two engines and found feathers and bird blood stains. DNA analysis identified them as the Baikal Teal, a species common in Southeast Asia and Russia.
The ARAIB has now said it will dismantle the turbofans to conduct more detailed examinations, as well as assess the data from the black boxes and evidence of bird strikes.
The investigation is being supported by the NTSB (USA) and the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la Sécurité de l’Aviation Civile (France), but there is no deadline for the final report.
