Concerns are being raised that a concrete berm installed at the end of the runway exacerbated the damage in the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster that resulted in 179 fatalities at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport noted that such structures are installed at other domestic airports. Whether the concrete berm was installed according to regulations, and if the regulations are aligned with international safety standards, is expected to become a future issue.
According to explanations from relevant ministries and agencies compiled on the 30th, Jeju Air flight 2216 attempted belly landing but exploded after hitting a berm at the runway's end where a localizer facility is located. The localizer guides aircraft during landing, helping align the aircraft with the runway centerline based on the runway's sides.
Typically, localizers are designed to be fragile in case of collision and are installed at the same elevation as the runway. However, Muan Airport's localizer was placed on an approximately 2-meter-high earthen berm, which was built to level the sloped ground beyond the runway's end. The localizer, located on a concrete structure atop this berm, is about 4 meters off ground level and is approximately 199 meters from the runway end, differing from standard installation methods.
Some experts point out that the hardness of the localizer contributed to the damage. Kim In-kyu, dean of flight training at the Aviation University, said in a phone interview with CHOSUNBIZ, "If the berm hadn't been there, the damage from the accident might have been reduced," adding, "The purpose of the berm installation and whether it was designed with materials or structures that minimize aircraft damage, even if necessary, should be investigated."
Kim Gun-hwan, a legal committee chairman at the Civil Pilots Association, noted, "Various factors complexly contribute to aviation accidents, and the localizer may be one of the contributing factors."
Foreign experts also expressed similar concerns. Aviation safety expert David Learmount, in an interview with Britain's Sky News, argued, "The issue of the pilot failing to deploy the landing gear was not the direct cause of passenger fatalities," stating, "The passengers died colliding with a solid structure at the runway's end. Such structures should not be in that location."
He suggested that "In most countries, localizers are designed to minimize aircraft damage in collisions," raising the possibility that Muan Airport's structure might not conform to international standards.
In response, the Ministry of Land, which oversees aviation safety, explained that the localizer at Muan Airport is installed in a form similar to other airports. Joo Jong-wan, director of aviation policy at the Ministry, said during a briefing held at the Government Complex Sejong, "At Muan Airport, the localizer facility is installed about 199 meters from the runway end outside the runway end safety area," and added, "Similar structures are also found at other airports like Yeosu Airport and Cheongju Airport."
Last year, Muan Airport reinforced the base structure while replacing the localizer equipment. The airport stated that the equipment, which had exceeded its 15-year lifespan, was replaced according to regulations.
The Ministry of Land is inspecting whether the structure actually complies with domestic and international safety standards. A ministry official stated, "The localizer facilities cannot be arbitrarily installed but must comply with installation regulations," and added, "The plan is to carefully investigate whether this facility is directly related to the accident."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land announced that it plans to move the two black boxes, the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) retrieved immediately after the accident, to the Gimpo Airport test analysis center this morning to confirm the possibility of analysis.
The Ministry also reported that the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is participating in the investigation of this accident and that it is cooperating with Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer, and CFMI, a U.S.-France joint engine manufacturer. The NTSB is expected to dispatch a team of experts to Korea to determine the cause of the accident.