Mystery of duck feathers in tragic Jeju Air crash
A preliminary report by the South Korean Ministry of Transport reveals the presence of duck feathers in the engines of the Boeing 737-800 that crashed in December at Muan Airport.
At the end of December last year, a tragic aeroplane crash occurred at Muan Airport in South Korea. During landing, the Boeing 737-800 struck a concrete structure, which caused it to catch fire. As a result of the accident, 179 people died, and two miraculously survived.
The South Korean Ministry of Transport has published a preliminary report, which reveals the discovery of duck feathers in both engines of the aircraft. The investigative commission examining the causes of the crash also discovered bird blood stains. Genetic studies showed that the feathers and blood belonged to the Baikal teal, a species of migratory duck from Siberia.
The pilots identified a group of birds while approaching runway 01, and a security camera filmed HL8088 coming close to a group of birds during a go-around — cites a report excerpt from the Citizen Digital.
Problems with recorders
The report points to issues with the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which stopped functioning four minutes before the collision. This prevents the determination of when exactly the aircraft collided with the flock of birds. Establishing the cause of the recorders' failure, as well as further verification of data, will take several months.
The report highlights that the captain of the aircraft had flown over 6,800 hours, and the first officer 1,650 hours. Documentation regarding the crash has been forwarded to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and aviation institutions in the USA, France, and Thailand.
