Bird feathers and blood stains were found in both engines of the Jeju Air plane that crashed last December, according to a preliminary investigation released Monday. On December 29, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft that flew from Thailand to Muan, South Korea, was carrying 181 passengers, including crew members. The crash killed 179 people on board, with two others critically injured. It was the worst air disaster to hit South Korean soil.
South Korean and American investigators are still investigating the cause of the crash, with bird strikes, faulty landing gear and runway obstruction being examined as possible problems. The report states that both engines recovered from the accident site were inspected and bird blood stains and feathers were found on both engines.
“The pilot reported that a flock of birds was identified as it approached runway 01, and security cameras captured video of HL 8088 approaching the flock of birds,” the report said, citing the jet’s registration number. There is no word on whether the engine stopped working in the moments before the plane crashed.
DNA analysis has suggested that the feathers and blood may belong to migratory birds called Baikal terns (Baikal terns), which come to Korea for the winter from Siberia. The report states that both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder stopped working four minutes before the disaster.
The pilot (captain) had more than 6,800 hours of flying experience and the co-pilot had more than 1,650 hours. Both died in the crash, while only two flight attendants survived. The Jeju plane exploded in flames when it hit a concrete embankment during landing, raising questions about why such a barrier was placed at the end of the runway.
Last week, officials said they would replace such concrete barriers at airports nationwide with other, more easily “destructible structures.”
