Latest news with #birdstrike
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Investigation into South Korea's Jeju Air crash hints at pilot error, angering families
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The initial results of an investigation into December's devastating Jeju Air crash in South Korea showed that, while the plane's both engines sustained bird strikes, its pilots turned off the less-damaged one just before its crash-landing. The finding, which implied human errors, drew quick, vehement protests from bereaved families and fellow pilots who accuse authorities of trying to shift responsibility for the disaster to the dead pilots. South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board initially planned to publicize the results of an investigation of the plane's engines on Saturday. But it was forced to cancel its press briefing in the face of strong protests by relatives of crash victims who were informed of the findings earlier in the day, according to government officials and bereaved families. 'If they want to say their investigation was done in a reliable, independent manner, they should have come up with evidence that backs up their explanation,' said Kim Yu-jin, head of an association of bereaved families. 'None of us resent the pilots.' The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air landed on its belly without its land gear deployed at South Korea's southern Muan International Airport on Dec. 29. It overshoot a runaway, slammed into a concrete structure and burst into flames. It was the deadliest disaster in South Korea's aviation history in decades, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. Investigation signals pilots turned off a wrong engine According to a copy of an unpublished briefing report obtained by The Associated Press, a South Korean-led multilateral investigation team said it found no defects in the plane's engines built by France's Safran and GE. The report said thorough examinations of the engines found the plane's right engine suffered more serious internal damage following bird strikes as it was engulfed with big fires and black smoke. But the pilots switched off the plane's left engine, the report said citing probes on the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder and the engines examinations. Officials earlier said the black boxes of the Boeing jetliner stopped recording about four minutes before the accident, complicating investigations into the cause of the disaster. The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder cited in the briefing report refers to data stored before the recording stopped. The report didn't say why the pilots shut off the less-damaged engine and stopped short of saying whether it was an error by the pilots. Bereaved families, fellow pilots slam the probe Bereaved families and pilots at Jeju Air and other airlines lambasted the investigation findings, saying authorities must disclose the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. 'We, the 6,500 pilots at civilian airlines, can't contain our seething anger against the preposterous argument by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board that lost neutrality,' the Korean Pilot Unions Alliance said in a statement Tuesday. Unionized pilots at Jeju Air also issued a statement urging authorities to present scientific evidence to show the plane should have landed normally if it flew with the less-damaged engine. The latest report focused only on engine issues and didn't mention other factors that could also be blamed for the crash. Among them is the concrete structure the plane crashed into. It housed a set of antennas called localizers designed to guide aircraft safely during landings, and many analysts say it should have been made with more easily breakable materials. Some pilots say they suspect the government wouldn't want to mainly and prominently blame the localizers or bird strikes for mass deaths as the Muan airport is under direct management of the Transport Ministry. The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the Transport Ministry have offered no public response to the criticism. They said they also won't publicly discuss the engine investigation to respect demands by bereaved families. A person familiar with the investigation told the AP that authorities are looking at the localizers and other issues like whether air traffic controllers relayed the danger of bird strikes to the pilots swiftly enough and what emergency training Jeju Air offered to pilots. The person, who requested anonymity citing the sensitive nature of the investigation, said authorities earlier planned to publicize the results of probes after reviewing various issues, but changed the plan and tried to release the outcome of engine investigation at the request of bereaved families. He said authorities don't intend to lay the responsibility for the disaster to the pilots. Authorities aim to publish the investigation's final results by next June, the person said. Kwon Bo Hun, dean of Aeronautics College at the Far East University in South Korea, called the engine investigation report 'clumsy' because it didn't disclose evidence that supported its finding on the pilots. He said it only irritated 'emotional parts of us" as the investigation raised suspicions that it puts the whole blame on the dead pilots. A former Transport Ministry-turned-university professor reached by the AP said the engine investigation report must be 'reliable' as it's based on an analysis of cockpit voice and flight data recorders that 'don't lie.' He spoke on condition of anonymity citing the delicate nature of the issue. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Investigation into South Korea's Jeju Air crash hints at pilot error, angering families
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The initial results of an investigation into December's devastating Jeju Air crash in South Korea showed that, while the plane's both engines sustained bird strikes, its pilots turned off the less-damaged one just before its crash-landing. The finding, which implied human errors, drew quick, vehement protests from bereaved families and fellow pilots who accuse authorities of trying to shift responsibility for the disaster to the dead pilots. South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board initially planned to publicize the results of an investigation of the plane's engines on Saturday. But it was forced to cancel its press briefing in the face of strong protests by relatives of crash victims who were informed of the findings earlier in the day, according to government officials and bereaved families. 'If they want to say their investigation was done in a reliable, independent manner, they should have come up with evidence that backs up their explanation,' said Kim Yu-jin, head of an association of bereaved families. 'None of us resent the pilots.' The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air landed on its belly without its land gear deployed at South Korea's southern Muan International Airport on Dec. 29. It overshoot a runaway, slammed into a concrete structure and burst into flames. It was the deadliest disaster in South Korea's aviation history in decades, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. Investigation signals pilots turned off a wrong engine According to a copy of an unpublished briefing report obtained by The Associated Press, a South Korean-led multilateral investigation team said it found no defects in the plane's engines built by France's Safran and GE. The report said thorough examinations of the engines found the plane's right engine suffered more serious internal damage following bird strikes as it was engulfed with big fires and black smoke. But the pilots switched off the plane's left engine, the report said citing probes on the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder and the engines examinations. Officials earlier said the black boxes of the Boeing jetliner stopped recording about four minutes before the accident, complicating investigations into the cause of the disaster. The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder cited in the briefing report refers to data stored before the recording stopped. The report didn't say why the pilots shut off the less-damaged engine and stopped short of saying whether it was an error by the pilots. Bereaved families, fellow pilots slam the probe Bereaved families and pilots at Jeju Air and other airlines lambasted the investigation findings, saying authorities must disclose the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. 'We, the 6,500 pilots at civilian airlines, can't contain our seething anger against the preposterous argument by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board that lost neutrality,' the Korean Pilot Unions Alliance said in a statement Tuesday. Unionized pilots at Jeju Air also issued a statement urging authorities to present scientific evidence to show the plane should have landed normally if it flew with the less-damaged engine. The latest report focused only on engine issues and didn't mention other factors that could also be blamed for the crash. Among them is the concrete structure the plane crashed into. It housed a set of antennas called localizers designed to guide aircraft safely during landings, and many analysts say it should have been made with more easily breakable materials. Some pilots say they suspect the government wouldn't want to mainly and prominently blame the localizers or bird strikes for mass deaths as the Muan airport is under direct management of the Transport Ministry. The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the Transport Ministry have offered no public response to the criticism. They said they also won't publicly discuss the engine investigation to respect demands by bereaved families. A person familiar with the investigation told the AP that authorities are looking at the localizers and other issues like whether air traffic controllers relayed the danger of bird strikes to the pilots swiftly enough and what emergency training Jeju Air offered to pilots. The person, who requested anonymity citing the sensitive nature of the investigation, said authorities earlier planned to publicize the results of probes after reviewing various issues, but changed the plan and tried to release the outcome of engine investigation at the request of bereaved families. He said authorities don't intend to lay the responsibility for the disaster to the pilots. Authorities aim to publish the investigation's final results by next June, the person said. Kwon Bo Hun, dean of Aeronautics College at the Far East University in South Korea, called the engine investigation report 'clumsy' because it didn't disclose evidence that supported its finding on the pilots. He said it only irritated 'emotional parts of us" as the investigation raised suspicions that it puts the whole blame on the dead pilots. A former Transport Ministry-turned-university professor reached by the AP said the engine investigation report must be 'reliable' as it's based on an analysis of cockpit voice and flight data recorders that 'don't lie.' He spoke on condition of anonymity citing the delicate nature of the issue. Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
Times
a day ago
- General
- Times
Captured: moment seagull hits 600mph Typhoon at air show
A photographer has captured the moment a seagull collided with a Spanish fighter jet, shattering its canopy as it was performing aerobatic manoeuvres at an air show. A lesser black-backed gull flew into the path of the Eurofighter Typhoon as the plane was flying at about 600mph at the Aire 25 air show in San Javier in Murcia in June. Javier Alonso de Medina Salguero, an aviation photographer, captured the incident in a four-shot sequence before and after the moment the bird hit the right side of the windscreen. The final shot shows the shattered perspex and the pilot, who ended the flight and returned to land. The bird just before the strike and, below, the moment of impact JAVIER ALONSO DE MEDINA SALGUERO/SWNS JAVIER ALONSO DE MEDINA SALGUERO/SWNS Tens of thousands of birds hit aircraft in flight every year, almost always at low height near airports. The majority cause little damage. Most cases that make the news involve jets that suffer engine failure after their turbines ingest birds. A bird strike began the sequence that brought down a Jeju Air Boeing 737 in Muan, South Korea, in December, killing 179 people. Windshield strikes, which account for almost half of bird collisions with helicopters and about 20 per cent with fixed-wing planes, can be dangerous. Pilots have been killed and badly injured when larger birds have smashed through the windscreen, hitting them in the head and chest at speeds of more than 100mph. The impact energy of a seagull with a jet fighter near the speed of sound is huge, potentially destabilising it in low-altitude manoeuvres. The cost of replacing the canopy can run well into six figures. • Planes are striking more birds, but Detective Dove is on the case The photographer said he was using a Nikon D7500 with a 200-500mm lens when he saw the Eurofighter pull out of the display. 'They reported over the radio that it had hit a seagull and broken the cockpit. Just then, I looked at the photos I had and saw the whole sequence,' he said. 'I was amazed to see the front of the cockpit broken.' The pilot was able to land safely despite the shattered windscreen JAVIER ALONSO DE MEDINA SALGUERO/SWNS King Felipe was attending the show, in which there were displays by Spain's Eagle Patrol, the RAF's Red Arrows and Italy's Frecce Tricolori teams. The jet that hit the bird was from the Spanish air force's 11th wing, based in Moron.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Initial probe into South Korea's Jeju Air crash hints at pilot error, angering families
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The initial results of an investigation into December's devastating Jeju Air crash in South Korea showed that, while the plane's both engines sustained bird strikes, its pilots turned off the less-damaged one just before its crash-landing. The finding, which implied human errors, drew quick, vehement protests from bereaved families and fellow pilots who accuse authorities of trying to shift responsibility for the disaster to the dead pilots. South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board initially planned to publicize the results of an investigation of the plane's engines on Saturday. But it was forced to cancel its press briefing in the face of strong protests by relatives of crash victims who were informed of the findings earlier in the day, according to government officials and bereaved families. 'If they want to say their investigation was done in a reliable, independent manner, they should have come up with evidence that backs up their explanation,' said Kim Yu-jin, head of an association of bereaved families. 'None of us resent the pilots.' The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air landed on its belly without its land gear deployed at South Korea's southern Muan International Airport on Dec. 29. It overshoot a runaway, slammed into a concrete structure and burst into flames. It was the deadliest disaster in South Korea's aviation history in decades, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. Investigation signals pilots turned off a wrong engine According to a copy of an unpublished briefing report obtained by The Associated Press, a South Korean-led multilateral investigation team said it found no defects in the plane's engines built by France's Safran and GE. The report said thorough examinations of the engines found the plane's right engine suffered more serious internal damage following bird strikes as it was engulfed with big fires and black smoke. But the pilots switched off the plane's left engine, the report said citing probes on the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder and the engines examinations. Officials earlier said the black boxes of the Boeing jetliner stopped recording about four minutes before the accident, complicating investigations into the cause of the disaster. The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder cited in the briefing report refers to data stored before the recording stopped. The report didn't say why the pilots shut off the less-damaged engine and stopped short of saying whether it was an error by the pilots. Bereaved families, fellow pilots slam the probe Bereaved families and pilots at Jeju Air and other airlines lambasted the investigation findings, saying authorities must disclose the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. 'We, the 6,500 pilots at civilian airlines, can't contain our seething anger against the preposterous argument by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board that lost neutrality,' the Korean Pilot Unions Alliance said in a statement Tuesday. Unionized pilots at Jeju Air also issued a statement urging authorities to present scientific evidence to show the plane should have landed normally if it flew with the less-damaged engine. The latest report focused only on engine issues and didn't mention other factors that could also be blamed for the crash. Among them is the concrete structure the plane crashed into. It housed a set of antennas called localizers designed to guide aircraft safely during landings, and many analysts say it should have been made with more easily breakable materials. Some pilots say they suspect the government wouldn't want to mainly and prominently blame the localizers or bird strikes for mass deaths as the Muan airport is under direct management of the Transport Ministry. The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the Transport Ministry have offered no public response to the criticism. They said they also won't publicly discuss the engine investigations to respect demands by bereaved families. A person familiar with the investigation told the AP that authorities are looking at the localizers and other issues like whether air traffic controllers relayed the danger of bird strikes to the pilots swiftly enough and what emergency training Jeju Air offered to pilots. The person, who requested anonymity citing the sensitive nature of the investigation, said authorities earlier planned to publicize the results of probes after reviewing various issues, but changed the plan and tried to release the outcome of engine investigations at the request of bereaved families. He said authorities don't intend to lay the responsibility for the disaster to the pilots. Authorities aim to publish the investigation's final results by next June, the person said. But Kwon Bo Hun, dean of Aeronautics College at the Far East University in South Korea, called the government's planned announcement 'clumsy' because it didn't disclose evidence that supported its finding on the pilots. He said it only irritated 'emotional parts of us that the investigation puts the whole blame on dead people.' A former Transport Ministry-turned-university professor reached by the AP said the engine investigation report must be 'reliable' as it's based on an analysis of cockpit voice and flight data recorders that 'don't lie.' He spoke on condition of anonymity citing the delicate nature of the issue.
CBS News
a day ago
- General
- CBS News
Probe report suggests pilots responsible for South Korean plane crash, drawing protests from victims' families
The initial results of an investigation into December's devastating Jeju Air crash in South Korea showed that, while the plane's both engines sustained bird strikes, its pilots turned off the less-damaged one just before its crash-landing. The finding, which implied human errors, drew quick, vehement protests from bereaved families and fellow pilots who accuse authorities of trying to shift responsibility for the disaster to the dead pilots. South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board initially planned to publicize the results of an investigation of the plane's engines on Saturday. But it was forced to cancel its press briefing in the face of strong protests by relatives of crash victims who were informed of the findings earlier in the day, according to government officials and bereaved families. "If they want to say their investigation was done in a reliable, independent manner, they should have come up with evidence that backs up their explanation," said Kim Yu-jin, head of an association of bereaved families. "None of us resent the pilots." The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air landed on its belly without its land gear deployed at South Korea's southern Muan International Airport on Dec. 29. It overshoot a runaway, slammed into a concrete structure and burst into flames. It was the deadliest disaster in South Korea's aviation history in decades, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. According to a copy of an unpublished briefing report obtained by The Associated Press, a South Korean-led multilateral investigation team said it found no defects in the plane's engines built by France's Safran and GE. The report said thorough examinations of the engines found the plane's right engine suffered more serious internal damage following bird strikes as it was engulfed with big fires and black smoke. But the pilots switched off the plane's left engine, the report said citing probes on the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder and the engines examinations. Officials earlier said the black boxes of the Boeing jetliner stopped recording about four minutes before the accident, complicating investigations into the cause of the disaster. The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder cited in the briefing report refers to data stored before the recording stopped. The report didn't say why the pilots shut off the less-damaged engine and stopped short of saying whether it was an error by the pilots. Bereaved families and pilots at Jeju Air and other airlines lambasted the investigation findings, saying authorities must disclose the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. "We, the 6,500 pilots at civilian airlines, can't contain our seething anger against the preposterous argument by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board that lost neutrality," the Korean Pilot Unions Alliance said in a statement Tuesday. Unionized pilots at Jeju Air also issued a statement urging authorities to present scientific evidence to show the plane should have landed normally if it flew with the less-damaged engine. The latest report focused only on engine issues and didn't mention other factors that could also be blamed for the crash. Among them is the concrete structure the plane crashed into. It housed a set of antennas called localizers designed to guide aircraft safely during landings, and many analysts say it should have been made with more easily breakable materials. Some pilots say they suspect the government wouldn't want to mainly and prominently blame the localizers or bird strikes for mass deaths as the Muan airport is under direct management of the Transport Ministry. The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the Transport Ministry have offered no public response to the criticism. They said they also won't publicly discuss the engine investigations to respect demands by bereaved families. A person familiar with the investigation told the AP that authorities are looking at the localizers and other issues like whether air traffic controllers relayed the danger of bird strikes to the pilots swiftly enough and what emergency training Jeju Air offered to pilots. The person, who requested anonymity citing the sensitive nature of the investigation, said authorities earlier planned to publicize the results of probes after reviewing various issues, but changed the plan and tried to release the outcome of engine investigations at the request of bereaved families. He said authorities don't intend to lay the responsibility for the disaster to the pilots. Authorities aim to publish the investigation's final results by next June, the person said. But Kwon Bo Hun, dean of Aeronautics College at the Far East University in South Korea, called the government's planned announcement "clumsy" because it didn't disclose evidence that supported its finding on the pilots. He said it only irritated "emotional parts of us that the investigation puts the whole blame on dead people." A former Transport Ministry-turned-university professor reached by the AP said the engine investigation report must be "reliable" as it's based on an analysis of cockpit voice and flight data recorders that "don't lie." He spoke on condition of anonymity citing the delicate nature of the issue.
