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An aviation expert claims “everyone could have survived” the doomed South Korean jet crash that killed 179.
David Learmount of Flight International Magazine says a single fatal error led to South Korea’s worst domestic aviation disaster.
Learmount pinned the tragedy on a navigation system, known as a localizer, that was placed in the runway’s overrun
gation system, known as a localizer, that was placed in the runway’s overrun.
He told Sky : “I don’t know what standards they think were appropriate but other airports do not put the instrument landing system antennae in a concrete structure.
“If that hadn’t been there everybody would be alive now.”
He added that the structures are usually collapsible in other airports rather than being concrete to prevent fatal collisions.
David heaped praise on the pilot for his calm and effective landing and said the disaster only happened due to the wall.
The expert thinks the plane hit the tarmac at about 200mph.
He said: “What we saw in the video was the aircraft being put down beautifully – it was perfectly level.”
But, then the plane hit the wall, causing it to explode in a giant fireball and kill most on board.
The concrete mound the antenna sat on was reportedly some 250m past the end of the runway, Yonhap reports .
It is 4m high, with the bottom half covered by a mound of dirt and was reportedly only erected last year.
The localizer had to sit on a mound as it had to sit perpendicular to the runway but was positioned on a slight decline.
Learmount added that at most airports the structure is made out of metal that would collapse if it was struck by a plane.
The antenna support being made out of concrete could have severely worsened the disaster, he said.
A number of other aviation experts have also commented on outstanding questions following the disaster.
