We don’t talk enough about timing in aviation - the few seconds to make the right decision when something unexpected occurs and the pilots can not be wrong.
There are a lot of indications that recent Jeju accident was largely the result of pilot error.
The plane approximately 2 minutes from landing when the bird strike occurred, should have had its gear and flaps down, ruling out a mechanical problem. Another issue is why the plane was traveling so fast on the runway even landing halfway down the runway doesn’t explain the speed. Hopefully they didn’t do what the pilots of a Pakistani 737 did years ago when they landed gear up, add power to go around. And why didn’t they just land after the bird strike?
So. Many. Questions. I am right there with you on this. JeJu is, without a doubt, one of the strangest accidents in years. It makes no sense what the pilots chose to do. I'm really hoping the FDR can tell us something - even if it is just to eliminate any engine problems - that will lead to answers.
And why did they go to the copilot’s side during the go around. One would think the flying pilot would put the runway on their side, unless a bird hit the captains window and the copilot took over flying. That could explain the go around, I guess. Slap a bird on short final, BANG captain’s window shatters, ( maybe can’t see out if it) throttle bashed to the dash, gear flaps up, then engine alarms start going off because big birds and blades don’t play well. Power comes back, gear alarms mix with other alarms, sensory overload …. Pilot fixates on the runway Dives to the safety of the earth…, I don’t know, but I can’t imagine a scenario where the pilots did the right thing.
I am struggling with the same thing. The way the go-around was handled is very odd. The PIC had almost 7000 hours and 5 years as a 737 captain (according to the S Korean aviation authority), which is all decent time and experience. This is partly why I added that line in my post about a possible conflict in the cockpit - maybe the crew argued over what to do (I have seen that in some Part 135 accident reports). I just don't know and I really really want to know what happened with this one.
There a lot of indications the recent Jeju accident was largely the result of pilot error.
Another great article. For political reasons the NTSB will probably bury the black box findings.
There are a lot of indications that recent Jeju accident was largely the result of pilot error.
The plane approximately 2 minutes from landing when the bird strike occurred, should have had its gear and flaps down, ruling out a mechanical problem. Another issue is why the plane was traveling so fast on the runway even landing halfway down the runway doesn’t explain the speed. Hopefully they didn’t do what the pilots of a Pakistani 737 did years ago when they landed gear up, add power to go around. And why didn’t they just land after the bird strike?
So. Many. Questions. I am right there with you on this. JeJu is, without a doubt, one of the strangest accidents in years. It makes no sense what the pilots chose to do. I'm really hoping the FDR can tell us something - even if it is just to eliminate any engine problems - that will lead to answers.
And why did they go to the copilot’s side during the go around. One would think the flying pilot would put the runway on their side, unless a bird hit the captains window and the copilot took over flying. That could explain the go around, I guess. Slap a bird on short final, BANG captain’s window shatters, ( maybe can’t see out if it) throttle bashed to the dash, gear flaps up, then engine alarms start going off because big birds and blades don’t play well. Power comes back, gear alarms mix with other alarms, sensory overload …. Pilot fixates on the runway Dives to the safety of the earth…, I don’t know, but I can’t imagine a scenario where the pilots did the right thing.
I am struggling with the same thing. The way the go-around was handled is very odd. The PIC had almost 7000 hours and 5 years as a 737 captain (according to the S Korean aviation authority), which is all decent time and experience. This is partly why I added that line in my post about a possible conflict in the cockpit - maybe the crew argued over what to do (I have seen that in some Part 135 accident reports). I just don't know and I really really want to know what happened with this one.