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Bird feathers, blood in both engines: New revelations in South Korea plane crash that killed 179
A Jeju Air aircraft crashed in South Korea on December 29, killing 179 people. Bird feathers and blood has been found in the engines of the plane.
A deadly crash of South Korean airline Jeju Air’s jet last month, that killed 179 people, was believed to have been caused due to a bird strike. Now, bird feathers and blood have been found in both the engines of the crashed jet, reported news agency Reuters, citing an unnamed source.
However, South Korea's transport ministry has not commented on whether such contents were found in the engines of the crashed jet.
A Jeju Air flight 7C2216, which was a Boeing 737-800 plane, coming from Thailand to South Korea’s Muan International Airport suffered a devastating crash, killing 179 people onboard. The incident happened on the morning of December 29. Only two crew members survived the crash.
The plane burst into flames while attempting a belly-landing at the runway and crashing into a wall.
Bird strike and ‘May Day’
Minutes before landing at the runway, a bird strike was reported by one of the pilots, who declared a ‘May Day’ emergency and initiated a go-around to attempt landing from the opposite side of the runway, said the Reuters report quoting South Korean authorities.
The jet was warned of “bird activity” in the area a couple of minutes ahead of the ‘May Day’ call and the first landing attempt.
While there is an ongoing probe into what caused one of the deadliest airplane crashes in South Korea, several challenges lie in the way of getting a clear picture. The plane’s black boxes, which record all the necessary data of the flight, stopped recording four minutes before the crash, said the report.
What is a bird strike
A collision between a bird and an aircraft while it is mid-flight, or during takeoff or landing is called a bird strike. Such collisions pose a threat to the security of the aircraft and can reduce engine power if a bird flies into the plane's engine. This can lead to either emergency landing or even a crash.
Bird strikes are also not uncommon, with over 14,000 cases reported each year in just the United States, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
