Aviation experts fear that potentially fatal mid-air bird strikes and rare “black swan” events capable of bringing down a passenger plane could become more frequent.
It comes after a plane in South Korea crashed on its belly before skidding off the runway and exploding, killing all but two of the 181 people on board, minutes after a bird strike was reported.
Jeju Air flight 2216 doomed to fail from bangkok, Thailandto Muan International Airport, exploded when it crashed into a brick wall on Sunday, in the deadliest plane crash ever in South Korea.
The first theory was that the impact of the birds on the plane caused the engine that powered the landing gear to fail, which in turn caused the fatal upside-down landing.
However, Tim Davies, a former RAF Tornado fighter pilot, was skeptical that this was the sole cause of the tragedy and feared that “pilot error” may have contributed to the disaster.
“It left the runway at more than 100 knots, there you will only experience death,” said the aviation expert.
‘If I had landed at the beginning of the runway, I could have slowed down. But I’m afraid he was coming at too much speed and landed in the middle of the runway, which is why he couldn’t slow down in time.
‘It’s a fairly common emergency that should have been addressed. And the fact that it didn’t is probably due to the pilot.
Jeju Air flight 7C2216 is engulfed in flames after crashing into a wall following an accident after landing at Muan International Airport.
People stand as the remains of a plane lying on the ground after it skidded off the runway and crashed at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on December 30.
An unverified video from the Jeju Air plane reportedly shows a burst of fire coming from the plane’s right engine, purportedly showing the moment the bird crashed.
And in a shocking twist of fate, a Canadian Airlines plane suffered a similar disaster earlier that day, in which a bird strike is believed to have damaged its landing gear controls.
It crashed, causing a wing to scrape the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Nova Scotia, Canada, before a fire broke out. Miraculously. None of the 80 people on board were seriously injured.
The accidents come amid a rise in the number of incidents involving birds, With about 19,400 crashes recorded in the US by the Federal Aviation Administration last year, compared to 17,200 in 2022.
And there were 1,400 bird strikes in the UK in 2022, of which only around 100 involved aircraft, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Deadly disasters due to bird strikes are rare, but not unheard of.
In October 1960, a flock of starlings caused a fatal plane crash in Boston Harbor after crashing into Eastern Airlines Flight 375 shortly after takeoff from Logan International Airport.
The attack wreaked havoc on the plane, destroying one propeller engine and causing two others to momentarily lose thrust.
In just 20 seconds, the plane lost control and plunged into the water, killing 62 of the 72 people on board, in what was called the worst bird strike disaster in the United States.
Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 emits black smoke as it skids off the runway before crashing at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea.
A similar incident was blamed on the destruction of a $180 million US surveillance plane that crashed in 1995 and burst into flames. as it crashed into a forest moments after takeoff at Elmendorf Air Force Base, just north of Anchorage.
And in January 2009, New Yorkers watched in horror as a passenger plane crashed into the Hudson River after hitting a flock of Canada geese seconds after takeoff, destroying both engines.
Miraculously, the pilots, Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger and co-captain Jeff Skiles, managed to land safely in the river, saving the lives of all 155 people on board.
His close brush with death was later turned into a Hollywood film starring Oscar winner Tom Hanks as Captain Sully.
Air Vice Marshal Gary Waterfall, a former RAF commander, insisted that although they were “rarities” in the South Korean plane crash, such deadly events are fortunately rare.
“In these ‘black swans’ there are always events like Captain Sulley crashing into the Hudson, for example,” said the former Red Arrows pilot.
‘The probability of this happening is infinitely small, but it is still a possibility; a chance that, to be completely honest, is as high as you or I winning the lottery.
Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger and co-captain Jeff Skiles saved all 155 people aboard Flight 1549 when both engines exploded after colliding with Canada geese.
Tuesday, January 15 marks 10 years since US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River after colliding with a flock of geese just after takeoff.
Pilot Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger managed to safely land his stricken plane in the Hudson River after a bird strike destroyed both engines shortly after takeoff.
“Ultimately, what we’ve seen over the last seven days is just bad luck and bad timing.”
Passenger planes undergo intense safety checks, and their engines are tested for their ability to withstand bird strikes.
The planes are designed to be able to take off on a single engine, and normal operating procedure sees pilots return to an airport after reporting a bird strike.
Air Vice Marshal Gary Waterfall said safety had improved enormously in the last 20 or 30 years, adding: “It’s really strange.” We’ve made it as safe as possible now. It’s such a rare event that it inevitably makes the news.
‘Crossing the street is much more dangerous than flying on an airline. I wouldn’t have any qualms about taking a plane tomorrow.
Retired Squadron Leader Mr Davies agreed, saying it was “incredibly rare” for planes to suffer a “terminal impact” after hitting a flock of birds.
He said the impacts have the potential to destroy both engines and there is a lot of kinetic energy that could cause damage to critical hydraulic systems.
The photo shows the wreckage of the plane in which all but two of the 181 people on board died.
But he added: “Engines are designed to withstand bird strikes and keep running or shut down. It’s not terminal.
“It’s incredibly rare for a bird with two engines to crash. But when this happens, you don’t just fall out of the sky, you can still glide.
‘I have experienced bird strikes all the time. I would receive them every three or four months. It was a non-event. The Tornado was a warplane, so things bounced off of it all the time.
‘I had a friend who ran over a bird very far from the sea. He had to drop his fuel tanks and return home. But all pilots are trained to know how to deal with bird strikes.
“Yes, they can damage a plane; you’re flying at 400-500 knots, so there’s a lot of kinetic energy in that, which can destroy the engine or damage the hydraulic system.”
In 2019, a Russian passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a cornfield near Moscow after colliding with a flock of birds.
At least 74 people were injured in the incident, in which the plane landed upside down with its engines shut down and landing gear retracted.
The Ural Airlines Airbus 321 was headed to Simferopol in Crimea when it collided with a flock of seagulls shortly after takeoff, damaging its engines.
State media has called the landing the “miracle over Ramensk.”
And in 2010, a Ryanair plane carrying 166 passengers crashed at Rome’s Ciampino airport after its engines absorbed a “large number” of birds.
Two cabin crew and eight passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries after the Boeing 737-800 crashed onto the runway and came to a stop.
Ryanair said flight FR4102 from Frankfurt had suffered “multiple bird strikes” on both engines as it approached Ciampino airport.