On Sunday, December 29, 2024, Jeju Air Flight 7C 2216 crashed and burst into flames during an attempted landing at Muan Airport in South Korea, resulting in the deaths of 179 people aboard the aircraft. The Boeing 737-800 airplane had departed from Bangkok, Thailand. The airplane was on approach to Muan airport when reportedly, the control tower warned pilots about birds in the area. Two minutes later, flight 2216 reported a “bird strike” and declared an emergency. Reportedly, during the flight’s second attempted landing, the airplane “landed long” - not touching down until almost halfway down the runway and without the landing gear down and with the flaps un-deployed. With no way to slow down, the airplane overshot the runway and crashed into an earth-and-concrete structure and burst into flames. All 175 passengers were killed and four of the six crew members were killed.
In the Media
Kreindler partner and commercial pilot Justin Green spoke with CNN’s Rahel Solomon about what additional potential causes could have contributed to the South Korean Jeju Air Boeing 737-8AS airplane crash.
A single-point failure is not supposed to happen. Aviation safety is based on redundancy; so, they have two engines, multiple hydraulic systems, backup systems.
Partner Justin Green discusses the Jeju Air tragedy with CNN's Rahel Solomon
Preliminary Investigation of the Jeju Air Boeing 737 Airplane Crash
South Korea’s Transport Ministry is investigating the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent investigators to South Korea to support the Korean investigation, as it normally does when an aircraft manufactured in the United States is involved in a accident. Reportedly, investigators have recovered the airplane’s digital flight data recorder (DFDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). These “black boxes” will provide critical information regarding the events leading to the crash. The CVR was able to be downloaded by South Korean investigators, but the DFDR was damaged and has been sent to the United States for analysis. South Korean police raided the corporate offices of Jeju Air and the Muan International Airport as part of their investigation. The South Korean authorities have also ordered an immediate inspection of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft registered in the country.
Flight 2216 crashed into a structure that supports a navigational aid known as the Instrument Landing System (ILS), which sends a signal to incoming airplanes to assist them in making precision approaches. The structure no doubt will be a focus of the investigation, and in particular its makeup and location, since airports are supposed to be designed to keep overrun areas clear. Minimum suggested standards issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommend a clear zone of 90 meters at the end of runways to reduce the risk to airplanes that overrun the runway. This ILS mound structure was 250 meters from the end of the runway, according to Muan Airport authorities. Flight 2216 touched down at a relatively high speed, however, and the investigation will need to look at whether the outcome would have been different if the structure had been located farther away from the runway’s end.
Kreindler Experience with Boeing 737 Aircraft
The Boeing 737-800 is a twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced in the United States by Boeing. The model was launched in 1995 and is powered by CFM International CFM56-7B engines. The engines are manufactured by a joint owned company of U.S.-based GE Aerospace (General Electric) and Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly known as Snecma) of France. The engine containment rings and nacelle structures are intended to protect other parts of the airplane from being damaged by engine components, such as fragments from the fan blades, in the event of an engine failure.
Kreindler has successfully represented victims killed in Boeing 737 aircraft accidents, including:
Kreindler Partner Justin T. Green was Co-Chair of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the litigation against Boeing and other parties following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 Boeing 737 MAX. That aircraft, the Boeing 737 Max is a newer, more advanced version of the airplane in the Jeju 2216 crash, a Boeing 737-800 airplane.
On November 19, 2019, Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, a Boeing 737-700, experienced a failure of its left CFM56-7B engine after taking off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The failure of a fan blade resulted in the loss of the inlet and fan cowl. Parts of the fan cowl struck the fuselage and broke a window, resulting in the explosive depressurization of the airplane and the death of one passenger and multiple passengers being injured. Following the tragedy, the National Transportation Safety Board found that the fan cowl was vulnerable to fan blade out (FBO) events and recommended that the manufacturer take steps to ensure the structural integrity of the fan cowls aboard airplanes using the engines. The Federal Aviation Administration also issued airworthiness directives requiring immediate and then ongoing inspections of the engine fan blades to ensure their integrity.
On July 6, 2013, Asiana Airlines Flight 214, a Boeing 777-200, crashed into a seawall short of the runway during a visual approach to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The Asiana flight originated in Shanghai, China, with a stop in Seoul, South Korea, before reaching San Francisco. There were 291 passengers and 16 crew on board. Kreindler successfully represented American and foreign passengers and their families following the tragedy.
About Bird Strike Aviation Accidents
Birds are a common threat to airplanes on both takeoff and landing. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, damage to airplanes from bird strikes costs airlines up to $500 million a year. Engines are vulnerable to damage from birds, particularly larger birds or a flock of birds. But, airplane safety designs are supposed to mitigate the possibility that a bird strike could result in an air[plane crash. The Boeing 737-800 has one engine on each wing, which reduces the risk of birds hitting both engines at the same time. The airplane should be able to continue flying with one engine should a bird strike cause a single engine failure, as long as the failed engine does not damage other aircraft systems and the pilots are able to correctly diagnose the problem and properly respond to it. It is possible that a flock of birds could cause both engines to fail, however, as was the case in the flight of US Airways Flight 1549, which crash-landed in 2009 in New York’s Hudson River. That incident is known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” flight, led by pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.
About Kreindler
Kreindler is the preeminent aviation accident law firm in the world. Our attorneys have been appointed leading counsel in nearly every major commercial airline disaster case in the U.S. and abroad. The firm was recently named the 2024 Transportation Law Firm of the Year by National Law Journal. Kreindler’s aviation practice is led by attorneys who are also commercial-rated, veteran military pilots. Kreindler’s aviation accident attorneys have achieved an unmatched record of success representing people globally who have been injured or lost family members in international and domestic airline disasters.
A single-point failure is not supposed to happen. Aviation safety is based on redundancy; so, they have two engines, multiple hydraulic systems, backup systems.
