On the 29th, the pilot of the Jeju Air passenger plane involved in a collision at Muan International Airport reportedly declared a 'mayday' emergency to the control tower without specifying the reason.
Joo Jong-wan, the director of aviation policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said in a briefing related to the Muan Airport accident held at 5 p.m. in the press room of the Government Complex Sejong, "The pilot made a mayday distress call to the control tower at 8:59 a.m. on the 29th," noting, "However, it appears there was no detailed explanation of the situation during the emergency declaration."
A 'mayday' emergency declaration is a request for assistance when an aircraft is in a situation where it cannot operate normally due to engine failure or lack of fuel. Typically, when declaring mayday, the word "mayday" is repeated three times, followed by reporting the aircraft's information and the nature of the problem. This provides the first insight into the cause of accidents such as engine failure due to bird strikes, loss of thrust, etc.
Currently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is verifying the communications between the control center and the aircraft. As per the information the ministry has gathered up to 9:03 a.m., just before the collision, the radio communications were as follows: 8:54 a.m. - landing clearance notification from the control tower; 8:57 a.m. - bird strike advisory from the control tower; 8:59 a.m. - 'mayday' declaration by the pilot.
As of 5:40 p.m., the exact times of the first landing attempt, the go-around, and the second landing attempt have not been confirmed.
Deputy Minister Joo stated, "Both black boxes (flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder) installed in the aircraft have been recovered," adding that, "Further investigation is necessary to determine the exact cause and details of the accident."
During the first landing attempt, the aircraft tried to land in the forward direction (01 direction) and failed, and during the second attempt, it tried to land in the reverse direction (19 direction) and collided with the outer wall.
In response to a question about whether there is a distance difference from the northern and southern ends of the runway to the outer wall, an official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport answered, "The distance is the same, at 323 meters from both ends of the runway to the outer wall."
Muan Airport started construction in 2022 to extend the runway from its current length of 2,800 meters to 3,160 meters, with completion scheduled for 2025. Some pointed out that the materials for the runway extension project were piled around the runway, exacerbating the accident. Regarding this, an official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained that "a comprehensive investigation, including matters such as the runway extension project, is planned."