Aviation Law Group (ALG) is actively investigating the Jeju Air accident at Muan International Airport, drawing on its extensive background in aviation law and the expertise of attorneys who are also licensed pilots. Our team is meticulously reviewing preliminary data, including flight track records, video evidence, and technical information related to the Boeing 737-800’s hydraulic and mechanical systems.
The information provided here reflects initial observations based on preliminary data. Aviation accident investigations are often complex and can take years to complete. We caution everyone to avoid jumping to conclusions based on incomplete or evolving evidence, especially information that is only sourced from social media speculation.
Our primary concern is ensuring that families and affected individuals have accurate information and understand their potential legal rights. As the investigative process unfolds, ALG remains committed to gathering factual information, analyzing the legal and regulatory implications, and advising families and other affected parties on their potential claims under international conventions such as the Montreal Convention. While our initial findings are informed by decades of experience in litigating complex aviation cases, ALG maintains that conclusive determinations should be reserved until the full scope of evidence.
According to video evidence of the crash, it appears that the Jeju Air 737-800 landed on runway 19, the sole runway at Muan International Airport in southwestern South Korea. The aircraft touched down at least halfway down the 2800-meter or roughly 9200-foot-long runway and, unable to stop, departed the end of runway 19, impacting an embankment at the airport boundary.
Additional video evidence shows that the aircraft landed without landing gear and without any high lift devices deployed, such as slats or flaps. Initial reports state that the Jeju Air pilots were warned of bird activity approximately four minutes before their first attempt at landing. The pilots’ first attempt at landing was unsuccessful, causing a go-around, and there is other video evidence purported to show the accident aircraft’s engine ingesting a bird with resulting engine damage.
ARAIB investigators will likely look to a possible bird strike as a contributing factor in this accident, why the subsequent landing of the aircraft was without landing gear, slats, or flaps, and why the pilots chose to continue landing with less than half of runway 19 remaining to stop the aircraft.
The video evidence and initial reports raise multiple questions for ALG attorneys.
“Perhaps the initial question, is why did the airplane land without landing gear?” said ALG attorney and airline captain Chris Rusing. If, indeed, a bird strike contributed to a loss of an engine, it is highly unlikely it would impair the crew’s ability to deploy the landing gear.
Captain Rusing continued,
Boeing 737-800 aircraft landing gear are operated by System A of its three hydraulic systems. If System A was affected by a series of failures, the hydraulic system and aircraft itself have built-in redundancy. If the redundancy for System A was not capable of working rendering System A inoperative, the pilots are still able to deploy the landing gear manually using a gravity free-fall system. The operation is typically performed by the First Officer and simply requires a small door on the floor near the First Officer’s seat to be opened and three handles pulled to release the landing gear uplocks, allowing the landing gear to extend into position on their own. The operation takes approximately fifteen (15) seconds to accomplish.
In addition to the landing gear, the lack of slats or flaps may be of great interest to investigators. Slats and flaps are high lift devices that extend from the front and rear of the wing, respectively, creating camber to the wing and generating greater lift and drag that is required for takeoff and landing operations. Normal landing speeds for a 737-800 with a nearly full load of passengers, like the Jeju Air 737, would be roughly 130-140 knots or 150-160 miles per hour. Without slats or flaps extended, the reference speed for landing would be much higher, approaching 180-190 knots or roughly 210-220 miles per hour.
“Higher landing speeds necessarily require more distance to stop the aircraft upon landing,” explained Rusing. “Without the assistance of landing gear brakes, and relying only on the friction of the aircraft, the aircraft required much more distance to stop than is typically required for a normal landing,” Rusing continued.
Rusing concluded, “At this point, with the video evidence, it is somewhat inexplicable why the aircraft would have landed without slats and flaps and without its landing gear. Even with a catastrophic engine failure, or bird strike, it is hard to imagine a situation where both the slats and flaps and the landing gear would all be unavailable to the crew.”
Investigators have recovered the so-called “Black Boxes” of the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder, and their data will be instrumental in the final determination.
The Republic of Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) remains the lead investigative authority on this accident. As is customary with international aviation incidents involving U.S.-manufactured aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed via a public statement that it is dispatching a team of U.S. investigators, including experts from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to assist the ARAIB. This collaboration will combine the ARAIB’s local jurisdiction with the technical resources and expertise of the NTSB, Boeing, and the FAA. Joint investigations of this nature underscore the importance of international cooperation in aviation safety and ensure that all relevant technical, regulatory, and operational perspectives are brought to bear in determining the causes and contributing factors of the accident.
While Aviation Law Group will monitor and investigate more facts as they become known, we welcome families who lost a loved one to contact us to discuss the accident or if you have any questions.