Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Chief Lee Seung-yeol ‘Bird Strike’ Reuters ‘Landing Gear Unrelated’ Muan Investigation Violation

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Chief Lee Seung-yeol ‘Bird Strike’ Reuters ‘Landing Gear Unrelated’ Muan Airport Accident Investigation Violation

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Chief Lee Seung-yeol arbitrarily announced a ‘bird strike’ and Reuters stated that ‘the landing gear malfunction was unrelated to the bird strike’, showing ‘investigation violation’ in obstructing the aviation investigation.

Reuters reported on the 8th that “Senior Investigator Lee Seung-yeol said that feathers were found in one of the engines recovered from the accident site, adding that video footage showed a bird strike in one of the engines,” and “Experts say that bird strikes do not usually cause landing gear malfunctions.”

Reuters continued, “It is still unknown why the aircraft did not deploy the landing gear and why the pilot declared an emergency after telling air traffic control that the plane had suffered a bird strike and attempted a second landing,” and “Experts say bird strikes do not typically cause landing gear to malfunction,” and “Investigators have collected the full transcript of the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the wreckage of the Jeju Air plane on the 11th and will discuss whether to release it,” the investigation team chief exclusively raised questions about the arbitrary announcement before the decision to release the transcript.

Lee Seung-yeol, the head of the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Commission’s accident investigation team, announced at a government briefing on the 7th that “it has been confirmed that a bird strike occurred,” and Korean media outlets all reported it as “confirmation of a bird strike.” In the briefing, the chief stated that “some feathers were found while digging out the dirt that entered the engine,” and “we plan to investigate what species (the bird) was and how it entered (the engine) by examining the inside of the engine,” and revealed this as an “investigation plan,” thereby directly linking the discovery of evidence during the investigation to the “cause of the accident,” thereby obstructing a fair investigation.

In the case of feathers found along with other inhaled objects in the aircraft engine, they must also undergo an investigation by domestic experts, and the results of the investigation must be analyzed by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is part of the joint investigation team.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Committee (ARI) formed a joint ROK-US investigation team of 23 people, including 12 members of the ARI, 1 member of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 3 members of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), 6 members of the Boeing manufacturer, and 1 member of GE Aerospace, the engine manufacturer, and this was officially agreed upon by the Korean government.

Acting Minister of Public Administration and Security Ko Ki-dong said at a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCHQ) meeting on the 8th, “The ROK-US joint investigation team is speeding up the investigation of the engine and main wing at the scene,” and “The damaged flight data recorder (FDR) has arrived in the US and has begun analysis, including repairs and data extraction, in cooperation with the US National Transportation Safety Board. We will conduct the investigation into the cause of this accident objectively and fairly in compliance with international standards and related laws,” and announced “compliance with international standards.”

Acting Minister Ko presided over the meeting as the head of the CDSCHQ, and the government classified the Muan accident as a central disaster and attributed it to this.

He continued, “We will conduct the investigation centered on domestic and foreign experts, but the investigation process and results will be disclosed as transparently as possible.” The day before, the head of the investigation team at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport arbitrarily announced a “bird strike,” and Korean media outlets simultaneously reported it as a “confirmed collision.”

In an official briefing, the division chief stated, “It is clear that one engine was struck by a bird, but we need to see whether it happened in both engines or if it was less severe in the other engine,” and added, “However, even if the bird strike was severe, it does not mean that the engine will turn off immediately,” and thus, stating that the “pre-investigation stage” was a “bird strike” constitutes obstruction of the investigation.

The division chief stated, “While digging up the dirt that had entered the engine, we found some feathers,” and “We plan to investigate what species (the bird) was and how it entered (the engine) by examining the inside of the engine,” but this defines the feathers as “evidence of a bird strike,” and this “partial disclosure” of the feather discovery constitutes intentional obstruction of the aviation accident investigation.

Yonhap News reported on the 7th under the title <Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport: “Jeju Air Accident Plane, Bird Strike Confirmed… Feathers Found in Engine”> as “Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Confirms Bird Strike.”

‘News 1’ reported it as <The National Accident Investigation Committee: “Feathers Found in One Engine of Jeju Air Accident Passenger Plane”>.

KBS reported, “Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport: Jeju Air accident confirmed by bird strike… Feathers found in engine.”

The announcement by the head of the investigation team stated, “While digging out the dirt that had entered the engine, we found some feathers,” referring to “feathers found in the dirt,” and some media outlets changed the announcement from “investigation committee announcement” to “committee decision,” misleading the public into believing that “bird strikes were the cause of the landing gear malfunction.”

Reuters continued, “Aviation safety experts said that the embankment designed to support the ‘localizer’ antenna, which is used to guide landings in poor visibility conditions, was too strong and too close to the end of the runway,” and “Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Joo Jong-wan admitted that safety measures were not sufficient when the embankment was built, but stated that it was done in accordance with domestic and international regulations,” reporting on the “claim to comply with international standards.”

 

The agreement states that “if parts of the aircraft can be recovered, they can be moved to a safe facility, such as a hangar, for reassembly, which can help identify missing or damaged components and better understand what happened,” and that “all this information will allow analysts to reconstruct the last moments of the aircraft and create video simulations.” 

The aviation agreement states that “the final report, including all safety recommendations, shall be made public in the country where the investigation was conducted, and shall aim to improve aviation safety, and shall not pass the buck,” and that “passing the buck” is a violation of accident investigations.

 

This day’s briefing by the head of the division deliberately excluded the analysis of analysts, which is the official stage of the accident investigation, and thus constitutes an act of shifting responsibility to the ‘birds.’