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Troubles keep mounting for Boeing: South Korea plans to inspect every Boeing aircraft after the deadly crash that killed 179 people

A Jeju air flight 7C2216 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, crashing into a wall and exploding, killing all 175 passengers on board and four of the six crew members while two crew members were pulled out alive.

South Korean officials, on 30th December, announced that they would do an emergency safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 planes flown by the nation’s carriers as they try to figure out what caused the plane crash that killed 179 people.

A Jeju air flight 7C2216 belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport, crashing into a wall and exploding, killing all 175 passengers on board and four of the six crew members while two crew members were pulled out alive. They were arriving from Bangkok.

Choi Sang-mok, the acting president of South Korea, presided over a task force meeting to perform an urgent evaluation of the nation’s aircraft operation systems. Notably, he also serves as the finance minister and deputy prime minister.

“The essence of a responsible response would be renovating the aviation safety systems on the whole to prevent recurrences of similar incidents and building a safer Republic of South Korea,” Choi Sang-mok stated.

“Even before the final results are out, we ask that officials transparently disclose the accident investigation process and promptly inform the bereaved families. As soon as the accident recovery is conducted, the transport ministry is requested to conduct an emergency safety inspection of the entire aircraft operation system to prevent recurrence of aircraft accidents,” Song-mok added.

A Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the South Korean low-cost carrier Jeju Air aborted its initial landing attempt for reasons that remain unclear. Its pilot then sent out a distress signal after receiving a bird strike warning from the ground control center during its second landing attempt. The aircraft crashed into a concrete fence, overshot the runway, exploded into a flame, and landed without its front landing gear deployed. It made a belly down, slipping into the slope at the end of the landing strip after touching down roughly 1,200 meters (1,310 yards) along the 2,800-meter (3,062-yard) runway.

The Boeing 737-800 is a “proven airplane” that is part of a distinct class of aircraft than the Boeing 737 Max jetliner, which was connected to catastrophic crashes in 2018 and 2019, according to Alan Price, a former top pilot at Delta Air Lines and current consultant. However, the South Korean Transport Ministry announced that it would conduct safety checks on all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft flown by the nation’s airlines in addition to a more thorough examination of safety regulations at Jeju Air, which is in charge of 39 of those aircraft.

Representatives from Boeing and the US National Transportation Safety Board are scheduled to arrive in South Korea on 30th December to take part in the inquiry, per senior ministry official Joo Jong-wan. Additionally, ministry officials stated that they will probe whether the localizer at the Muan airport, a concrete fence that houses a network of antennae intended to safely direct planes during landings, should have been constructed with lighter materials that would shatter more readily when struck. Other domestic airports in the country, such as those on Jeju Island and in the southern cities of Yeosu and Pohang, are using similar lighter buildings.

Authorities are also investigating if the pilot and air traffic controllers had a communication breakdown prior to the deadly collision. A ministry official expressed, “Our current understanding is that, at some point during the go-around process, communication became somewhat ineffective or was interrupted ahead of the landing and impact.”  

According to fire and transportation officials, investigators are looking into the crash’s potential causes, including bird strikes, whether any of the aircraft’s control systems were turned off, and the pilots’ apparent rush to try a landing shortly after announcing an emergency. There are still many unanswered questions, according to experts, such as why the aircraft, which was propelled by two CFM 56-7B26 engines, seemed to be moving so quickly and why, as it skidded down the runway and struck a concrete embankment, its landing gear did not appear to be down.

The crashed aircraft’s flight data and cockpit audio recorders were sent to a research facility at Gimpo airport for examination. The Korean people are concerned about the ability of the administration to manage the issue in the wake of the political unrest that followed the declaration of martial law by now-impeached President Yoon. Due to their apparent involvement in the martial law drama, the police chief was detained and the safety minister resigned. Concerns were also heightened by the absence of important individuals in charge of disaster management.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States, where the aircraft was developed and constructed, will automatically be involved in the crash investigation, which will be led by South Korea in accordance with international aviation regulations.

Meanwhile, a landing gear issue forced a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 to return to Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport on 30th December morning. Jeju Air management support office head Song Kyung-hoon informed, “Shortly after takeoff, a signal indicating a landing gear issue was detected on the aircraft’s monitoring system. At 6.57 am, the captain communicated with ground control, and after taking additional measures, the landing gear returned to normal operation. However, the decision was made to return to the airport for a thorough inspection of the aircraft.”

Trouble mounting for Boeing

This year, Boeing’s troubles began when an unusable cabin door of a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft fell off in midair on 5th January, generating a stir in the aviation community. The event raised concerns about safety of Boeing aircrafts. However, no one on the Alaska Airlines flight was seriously hurt. Boeing’s CEO acknowledged that the aircraft manufacturer was at fault. Following the incident, the United States grounded 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.

Dave Calhoun, the president and CEO of Boeing, stated that the company was “acknowledging our mistake”. The 27 kilogram (60 lb) door “plug” that dropped from the airplane was meant to open an emergency exit that was installed in the aircraft but that Alaska Airlines did not require. According to investigators, it was discovered that the airline had restricted the aircraft after receiving pressurization warnings in the days prior to the event.

Boeing also lost billions of dollars after a worker strike that stopped production at two of its largest factories, in addition to struggling to handle a safety and quality control issue. Its space program has also encountered difficulties. Additionally, 32 employees of Boeing, the world’s second-largest aerospace manufacturing corporation, had protested to regulatory bodies about potential retaliation against anyone who voiced safety concerns about the company. Two of them died, and the third stated that he had to live in constant fear.

Joshua Dean, a quality auditor for Spirit AeroSystems, a Boeing supplier, passed away. A few weeks before his passing, Dean visited a hospital due to breathing difficulties, despite leading a healthy lifestyle. He died due to a bacterial infection and pneumonia. Regarding “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line” at Spirit, Dean had lodged a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

John Barnett, 62, a former Boeing employee who turned whistleblower, was discovered dead in the United States a few days after testifying against the company’s leadership. According to Barnett, there are “serious problems with the oxygen system” and “under pressure workers deliberately fit sub-standard parts to aircraft on the production” with Boeing.

“In some cases, sub-standard parts had even been removed from scrap bins and fitted to planes that were being built to prevent delays on the production line,” he disclosed. He began working as a quality manager at the North Charleston plant in 2010.

Meanwhile, a former inspector at Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier to Boeing, whose repeated warnings of quality and safety issues were disregarded, went public after his coworker, whistleblower Joshua Dean, died. Santiago Paredes expressed, “But, you know, I’m always looking behind my mirror to make sure nobody’s car’s following me.” 

“I’m not saying that I’m scared, but at the same time, I can’t put a blind eye to the reality of what could be. I have to prepare myself for that. I’m picking up the mantle of where he left off and I have to carry on and see it through,” he further added.

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