All passengers would have survived without concrete wall - and it should never have been there, says expert - South Korea plan crash

 

All passengers would have survived without concrete wall - and it should never have been there, says expert - South Korea plan crash

Airports should not have a concrete wall at the end of a runway, an aviation expert has told Sky News.

Without it, the aeroplane would have slid to a halt, even if its landing gear failed, said David Learmount.

"When you saw it slide off the end of the runway, nothing was on fire. The aircraft was completely under control," he said.

"The actual touchdown itself, the aircraft was perfectly wings level. The aircraft had been handled very, very nicely.

"The aeroplane was fine up until the point it hit the wall. If there had been no wall there, everybody would be alive now."

Mr Learmount said crash crews were ready and waiting to douse with foam any flames caused by the slide.

Key to understanding the cause of the crash is finding out why the pilot could not put down the plane's flaps or landing gear, he continued.

Without the gear to provide breaks and the flaps to slow its landing speed, the plane touched down much faster than it otherwise would.

"The reason it went over the whole length of the runway was because it was going so fast," said Mr Learmount.

It is unclear whether the landing gear was operational during the pilot's first attempt to land, he said.

"The captain had issued a mayday call. A mayday is just all-embracing. It's saying 'I've got real problems here'."

Mr Learnmount said the pilot wasn't able to say what all the problems were because "his workload was so high".

 

 

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