Jeju Air Crash Probe Focuses On Engine Damage After Bird Strike

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By Andrew Tangel and Timothy W. Martin

(The Wall Street Journal) — Both engines of the aircraft involved in last month’s fatal Jeju Air crash in South Korea were found with bird remnants, though it remains unclear how much damage each sustained before the plane crashed into a concrete-reinforced embankment.

The findings emerged from an initial crash investigation report released Monday local time by South Korea’s transport ministry, which oversees the probe with the U.S., Boeing and the jet’s engine maker. The crash killed 179 people, in what was one of the deadliest aviation disasters in years. 

The Jeju Air flight was returning from Bangkok and was due to land at South Korea’s Muan International Airport the morning of Dec. 29. At 8:57 a.m. that day, the Muan airport’s control tower warned of bird activity — not an unusual alert for an area surrounded by various duck and geese habitats.