South Korea plane crash latest: Experts cast doubt on bird strike theoey as grieving families camp out at airport – UK Times

Shares of South Korean budget carrier Jeju Air hit their lowest on record yesterday, after the deadliest air crash in the country killed 179 people.

Jeju Air shares traded down 8.5 per cent after falling as much as 15.7 per cent earlier in the session to 6,920won (£3.74), the lowest since they were listed in 2015.

The share slide yesterday wiped out as much as 95.7bn won (£51.9m) in market capitalisation.

Investigators are examining bird strikes, whether any of the aircraft’s control systems were disabled, and the apparent rush by the pilots to attempt a landing soon after declaring an emergency as possible factors in the crash, fire and transportation officials have said.

All 175 passengers and four of the six crew were killed when a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway, erupting in a fireball as it slammed into a wall. Two crew members were pulled out alive.

Officials have also faced pointed questions about design features at the airport, particularly a large dirt-and-concrete embankment near the end of the runway used to support navigation equipment.

The plane slammed into the embankment at high speed and erupted into a fireball. Bodies and body parts were thrown into surrounding fields and most of the aircraft disintegrated in flames.

South Korean officials say the embankment was built according to standards, and that there are similar features at other airports including in the US and Europe.

But many experts said its proximity to the end of the runway defied best practices and likely made the crash far more deadly than it may have been otherwise.

The runway design “absolutely (did) not” meet industry best practices, which preclude any hard structure like a berm within at least 300m of the runway’s end, John Cox, chief executive of Safety Operating Systems, told Reuters.

A team of investigators from the US and officials from aircraft manufacturer Boeing joined the on-site probe of the Jeju Air plane crash at the Muan international airport.

A member from the US Federal Aviation Administration, three experts from the US National Transportation Safety Board and four representatives from Boeing have joined South Korean investigators, Seoul’s transport ministry said.

“South Korean and US investigators discussed the schedule procedures and specific areas of focus for the investigation,” Joo Jong-wan, head of aviation policy at the transport ministry, told reporters.