FATAL DESIGN

Deadly South Korea Plane Crash Landing Cause Determined

A new report found that the death of 179 passengers at Muan International Airport could have been prevented.

A deadly South Korean plane crash that killed nearly everyone on board may have been entirely survivable—if not for a concrete wall that goes against international standards. A report obtained by The New York Times found that all 179 passengers killed aboard Jeju Air Flight 2216 would have survived had the structure at the end of the runway been built with materials designed to break apart on impact, as required under international aviation guidelines. The report, completed in August by a Seoul-based research group commissioned by South Korea’s Transport Ministry, relied on computer simulations of the Boeing 737-800’s belly landing at Muan International Airport. Those models showed that with an adjusted wall, the aircraft could have safely slid through the localizers and a perimeter wall, leaving passengers with no severe injuries. The findings contradict earlier government claims that the concrete berm posed no safety issue. South Korea’s Transport Ministry has since begun removing similar concrete berms at airports nationwide—but work has yet to be completed at Muan or on Jeju Island.