Muan aircraft accident, expanding search scope

■ Host: Anchor Jang Won-seok, Anchor Yoon Bori
■ Starring: Professor of Safety Engineering at Hameun-gu District
* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN Newswide] when quoting.

[Anchor]
We continue to inform you of the aircraft accident at Muan Airport in Jeollanam-do. Let's take a look at today's accident with Hameun-gu District's safety engineering professor. Please come in. First of all, before asking various questions, the number of deaths has increased further now, so I will tell you about it. Now the death toll has risen to 127. There were 181 people on board. Two rescuers and 127 passengers are said to have died so far. According to the National Fire Agency, 59 men and 59 women were also confirmed. Nine people are checking gender. We will give you the latest news when we receive it. Professor, the cause of today's tragic accident is not clear yet.How do you rate Ma overall?

[Hangeungu]
Looking at the related reports, the most direct cause is that the so-called fuselage landing was attempted under conditions where the landing gear was not properly deployed, and eventually collided with the outer wall, resulting in a physical impact and the resulting fire.

[Anchor]
As you said, the plane crashed into the outer wall while landing. What is the normal speed of running on the runway like this during landing?

[Hangeungu]
Usually, it will vary considerably from case to case. Usually, when the landing gear operates and actually lands on the runway, we're about 60 to 70 kilometers per hour. In general, the landing gear operates, but the engine's own output is reversed. To put it the other way around, this overall mechanism, which also brakes with force on the engine, works at the same time.

So, for example, when an airplane takes off, it has the power of the lift, so it flies. On the contrary, in order to land, you have to develop the power of drag. Literally, these drag-related parts, which land safely as the altitude gradually goes down, actually push the wings back when ordinary viewers see them. So, like a real spoiler for a car, it makes the pressure higher up there. What is the basic mechanism of drag? That's why the pressure above generates a force to press.

The landing gear is also a problem, but I think it can be seen that the overall adjustment, the engine reverse propulsion, or the deployment of wing cars to increase drag have not worked smoothly.

[Anchor]
It is known that two rescuers were found in the tail of the fuselage after the initial examination in the 9th century. However, it is said that the scope of the search is expanding. To what extent do you think the search should be expanded?

[Hangeungu]
Based on the runway where the accident occurred, it is necessary to secure a radius of at least 100m and look at various life recoveries and such. So it's seen as a condition where the physical force was very large in the process of actually colliding with the outer wall. So it seems that it is right to secure at least 100m and conduct the search.

[Anchor]
If the physical force hits the outer wall you described and it lands on the fuselage like today, can it get bigger?

[Hangeungu]
That's right. As I said, the landing of the fuselage itself requires the plane to brake in the end, but the basic thing is that the landing gear usually has a wheel in front of the plane. And the landing gear operates in the form of a triangle with two wheels coming down on the rear. There is no brake function or braking function for the actual wheel itself, but to put it very simply, it seems that you have to brake with only the friction of the runway and the bottom of the hull of the airplane.

So, as mentioned earlier, if there is no engine reverse propulsion or steering angle for wings that can generate drag, it seems to be a condition that shows great physical mobility, as shown in the accident results.

[Anchor]
We've shown you the plane landing on the fuselage several times.The bottom of the plane, the ship, scraped the runway and proceeded as it was. But the tail side seems to be relatively less shocked. So even in the back picture, you can check the color of the plane on the outer wall of the fuselage, and the shape of the tail remains the same. How can we say that there was a rescuer on the tail like that and a survivor came out from there?

[Hangeungu]
The direction of the plane will proceed from the front. And of course, the position where you bump into the outer wall will probably hit the head of the plane first. So the amount of impact would have had a significantly less impact on the stern and tail. And in the actual landing process, the tail appears to have been landed in a part that is not in direct contact with the ground. And in fact, I think there would have been less impact on the tail in the process of breaking into two, when there were fires and various impacts.

So, according to reports, they are known as flight attendants. I'm sure the crew behind the crew existed. So that part appears to have formed into a safe zone that is quite far apart from other physical conditions and from the part of the fire.

[Anchor]
It is unfortunate that the number of rescuers is not increasing except for the two crew members you mentioned. Which one is the most difficult for the fire authorities right now?

[Hangeungu]
According to various reports, passengers are now known to have shown these things that are very far away and away during the collision. The process of dealing with these people scattered in all directions, I think this is the most important problem and the most difficult part. And it seems that the surroundings are formed like various reeds, so it's sunset soon and the search process can be more difficult. So, I think it would be better to hurry up and proceed with preparations to facilitate search and such things under sunset conditions.

[Anchor]
If you were to choose the mode of transportation that many people ride at a time, what would be the difference and difficult part of the search in the event of an accident when there are trains, ships, and aircraft?

[Hangeungu]
Most of them, for example, are in the form of accidents on the runway. In addition, most of them have relatively difficulty in searching for remains or remains if they crash-land or have an accident in the air. The anchor told us about the settlement, but in terms of the overall safety level of the transportation we are using, airplanes are still the safest means of transportation compared to cars and things like this. If the possibility of occurrence is viewed as a risk, aircraft are a very safe means of risk.

It's a very safe means of probability. In fact, when we do the engineering calculations, the actual risk I mentioned is calculated as the risk by multiplying the death, the so-called intensity, and the frequency of actual occurrence. Engineering, then when you look at those two data, it's clear that airplanes are a very safe vehicle. But one thing I want to add to this is that there is no way for airplane companies to handle intensity in terms of frequency multiplication and intensity. So again, the passengers have nothing to do. There is no way to receive education under this condition, right?

[Anchor]
That coping is impossible for passengers.

[Hangeungu]
That's right. As the anchor said, the so-called way to reduce the damage is that airplanes are structurally difficult. So every airline eventually has to give up on the so-called sequence and uses a method that reduces the probability of it not happening in the end. I'm sure you've heard a lot about landing gear and engines, but it's parallelized and duplicated, so you have several of these functions that play the same role. So when one side becomes a pailier, the other side starts. If the landing gear has a primary problem, there is a way to operate the secondary landing gear. It's what we call redundancy or parallel structures.

That's why, as I said now, aircraft are constantly checking because there are almost no measures against the so-called intensity. So if there's anything wrong, it doesn't actually operate, right?

So, we have no choice but to keep checking those parts even before takeoff, but we judge that the current situation is that the various so-called dualized parallelized structures we have in the aircraft have all been neutralized.

[Anchor]
If you listen to the professor a little bit, it seems difficult to take measures other than airlines and prevention.

[Hameungu]
That's right. It's actually the part that runs in the air. And because it must go through the process of landing, there are always various risks in the so-called landing process. We have this system that fits it, so I can tell you that it has a safer probability than other vehicles so far.

[Anchor]
However, if the aircraft was unable to respond by itself, there are response facilities on the runway when crash landing or landing in a fuselage, for example, if you drive in Gangwon-do, there is a place where you can evacuate like a hillside ski jump at the end of the downhill for a vehicle with a brake failure on the downhill road. Let cars with broken brakes evacuate that way. Isn't there such a device on the runway at the airport?

[Hameungu]
In reality, such considerations are not in the design concept. Many people say that the runway of Muan Airport is about 2,600, 2,800 meters. That's why they say it's relatively 2km shorter than other airports. In the end, like the car you just mentioned in the process of actually landing in the air, so the car is also a countermeasure against C, the robbery. capable of reducing damage I can tell you that it is almost structurally and physically difficult to apply those parts to aircraft.

[Anchor]
Nevertheless, if the decision to land the fuselage as an emergency, the airport could spray some braking material on the runway with the fire authorities. I heard you can spray something in the form of foam to brake, but there wasn't anything like that today, right?


[Hameungu]
Blocking will be more difficult if you give it a bubble. Bubbles are probably a preventive aspect of fire or something like this. I don't know exactly what foam you're talking about, but if it's a bubble, the friction is less, so the braking distance is bound to increase. However, there could be something like this. For example, if you land on a fuselage, there is a very high possibility that these combustion phenomena will occur due to fires and collisions, so you can have these processes of discharging your own fuel and throwing it out of the air.

Second, if it's possible, you can fly around for a long time so that you can use up a lot of fuel. So this is also a possibility, but those so-called efforts to eliminate or reduce combustion materials are what we have in the manual. It seems that it can be such a condition to try these parts.

[Anchor]
According to what the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, a bird collision warning was issued to the aircraft. A minute later, the pilot sent a Mayday declaration, so help, a rescue signal. And about two minutes after sending the rescue signal, an accident like this happened, and how dangerous should we consider a bird strike, a so-called bird strike?

[Hameungu]
In fact, there have always been concerns about bird strikes you mentioned when taking off and landing at the airport. So, the reality is that airports and airlines are also making a lot of efforts to reduce the damage in this area. Nevertheless, it is shown that a tidal current collision has occurred in the first place, and if so, does the tidal current collision necessarily occur under the condition that the landing gear cannot be properly operated? Actually, that part is quite questionable.

However, basically, if you strain or defect in the engine system or these parts and expand the estimation over and over again, there is a problem with the engine, so it can put a strain on the overall control or control system of the plane, but that's what happens. Basically, the engine side and the landing gear are completely separated in the circuit. If it is linked together, there is a very high possibility of a problem, so it has been separated from the design itself. In any case, it seems certain that the plane actually entered the condition of not actually deploying the landing gear due to some unknown cause.

[Anchor]
Do you think we can't rule out the possibility of maintenance defects?

[Hameungu]
We can't completely rule out the part of poor maintenance. So in addition to a lot of conditions, but as I said, for this part that is directly connected to life, like this landing gear, it seems quite unlikely that all of this can be neutralized because it's double and triple.

[Anchor]
So, there is an explanation that this landing gear is stored inside the fuselage, so it is rare that it does not work due to a bird collision.

[Hameungu]
That's right. If you look at the landing gear large, there are two types. The fixed and variable type, that is, the fixed type, does not let the wheels inside even if they are actually floating, but most of them fold the landing gear and operate because of air resistance or something like that. It should be deployed when landing like now, but the basic mechanism is the force of hydraulic pressure, and most products are driven by hydraulic pressure. Therefore, the condition that the hydraulic system is not properly controlled. However, as the anchor said, the possibility of problems with the landing gear due to the physical impact of the bird collision is now known to be quite low in the reports so far.

[Anchor]
If you look at the video that we're showing you repeatedly... If you look at the red circle in the video that we've shown you over and over again, there's a shock from the right engine and smoke coming out. When a bird collides with its fuselage, the plane will fly at an altitude of several hundred kilometers from the sky, and when the bird says it's about 1kg, it will have a significant impact, so how much is it?

[Hameungu]
In my personal opinion, rather than in terms of the amount of impact, there is a phenomenon in which the so-called algae are sucked into the muffler side and the power system when talking to the car in the engine room. Then, if you enter the engine room, the algae themselves will burn again, so it looks like a flame with the naked eye. So in the end, this form of the algae burning can occur. Second, as I said, when you enter the engine room, the combustion forms are physically affected. Chemical. Then, the output part may appear irregularly in this form due to such incomplete combustion or such factors.

So, it's more cautious than just the impact of a flock of birds, but the concern is that the wing cars have to move up and down horizontally and vertically in a part where the biggest part of the steering part is the wing. If a bird is physically stuck in this part, it's very difficult to properly steer or control it. In other words, rather than the amount of impact, it seems that the situation of a bird getting stuck in a certain place or something like this increases the overall risk.

[Anchor]
The airport's outer wall and the aircraft collided head-on with the cause of the accident yet. Then, in this situation, how should the accident be dealt with and rescued?

[Hameungu]
In the first place, the control tower also has its own air fire brigade at all airports, considering various collisions and such situations. So these people...

[Anchor]
Wait a minute, professor. I think the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will be briefing now. Connect to the site.

[Interview]
Regarding the accident of Jeju Air Flight 2216 between Bangkok and Muan Airport, the situation as of 16:30 is as follows. This is the first damage situation. The aircraft was burned down and casualties included 181 passengers, 175 of them, and two Thai passengers. And this is the number where six crew members have been identified. Among them, 132 deaths have been confirmed. Due to this accident, the runway of Muan Airport has been closed for now until 5 a.m. on January 1, 25. This is the status of the structure. It's for two cabin crew members. He was rescued and transferred to Seoul National University Hospital and Mokpo Central Hospital.

It's the place where the victim rests. It is being placed in a temporary morgue installed inside Muan Airport. The identified victim will be transferred outside in consultation with the bereaved family. In connection with the accident investigation, 8 airline high inspectors and 9 aviation safety supervisors have arrived at the accident site and are conducting an initial investigation. Regarding the black box, both voice and flight recorders have been collected. It is a cooperative system of related organizations. I would like to tell you that 490 firefighters, 455 police officers, 340 military personnel, and 1,572 officials, including the Coast Guard and local governments, are conducting probationary activities at the site. Lastly, it is the regional accident management headquarters. We are establishing and operating a regional accident management headquarters headed by the head of the Busan Regional Aviation Administration, and we are making every effort to support the bereaved families by operating a counseling center for the support of the bereaved families, matching the victims and their families, and visiting the scene of the accident representative of the bereaved families. That's about it.

[Reporter]
Three questions. Whether the landing gear didn't come down even when the plane tried to land in direction 1 at around 8:57...

[Interview]
Once the accident time was unified, the control tower was allowed to land at 8:54. At 8:57 there was bird mover's advice and at 8:59 there was a pilot mayday request. And there was a final crash at 09:03. And you can see some of the landing gear in the video, but it doesn't seem to have been done in the video, but the timing and such should be investigated accurately. The FDR has been collected now, so you have to check it through it. And I'll estimate the exact time of the fire from the video.I think I can tell you the exact time when I have to check through data analysis.

[Interview]
It's related to the part that was rescued earlier.Ma is currently continuing rescue activities. So I think I have to tell you when I see some situations in general that are more structured.

[Reporter]
One west coast is a representative bird habitat, which prevents bird collisions.

[Interview]
That's not true. We're making the investigation clearer to those who did bird collision prevention facilities or bird collision prevention facilities at that time.Ma is saying that manpower and equipment arrangements are together according to certain standards. However, in various morning accidents, we plan to take a closer look at the positioning of personnel and the operation of equipment in the investigation process.

[Reporter]
It's the Jeju Air flight that had an accident this time. I wonder if you have a history of accidents.

[Interview]
We are currently figuring out the maintenance history of the aircraft. I'll tell you a little bit about what's understood.

[Reporter]
After the 9:03 final collision after the 8:59 Mayday situation...

[Interview]
Since it takes two to three minutes, we can check the exact time by analyzing the data. Now, various situations have happened in about three minutes, I hope you understand this.

[Reporter]
I did a double check and landed, but can you figure out the landing point in detail? Please explain how different it is from the normal landing point and how different it is. Another thing is, I wonder if there is a reason why you designated it as that time.

[Interview]
We are investigating what the reporters said earlier, including the landing site. So I'll tell you as soon as the investigation is conducted. And the second question. First of all, we set it to 5 p.m. on January 1st, and I plan to adjust it additionally after seeing the situation at the airport.

[Reporter]
I wonder what the specific criteria for issuing a bird collision warning are. I wonder if the pilot can immediately recognize that on board if there is a collision even if there is no bird collision alert.

[Interview]
As I said earlier, I think it should be investigated to see how much algae appeared at the airport at that time. I think it would be appropriate to investigate and give you more details.

[Reporter]
The surviving flight attendant was testifying about a bird strike and there's a mention of a... bird strike. Both passengers and flight attendants are asking the same question at the time, do you have any idea of the in-flight situation and how you see the situation internally at the time?

[Interview]
There is no specific information about the in-flight situation that we are currently grasping. So, I think this is a situation where we have to investigate and reveal the overall things that you said.

[Reporter]
If you look at the current so far, it is presumed that the accident occurred due to the collision of the engine. Why didn't the landing gear open then? If there is a problem with the engine, does the landing gear stop working?

[Interview]
As I said earlier, investigators went to the scene to investigate the exact cause and situation of the aircraft technology. So I think it would be appropriate to talk about the investigation and results.

[Reporter]
By the way, in general, just as we can't go when the engine is turned off, the plane can't operate the landing gear when the engine is turned off?

[Interview]
Bird warnings usually advise you to refer to them at the control tower. Then the pilot will decide. If the landing gear breaks down, there is a way to do it automatically or manually. If it is confirmed that it has not been unfolded, the investigation of the cause of why it has not been unfolded is an issue that needs to be accurately identified through FDR analysis.

[Reporter]
The question now is whether the engine fault is related to the landing gear.

[Interview]
Normally, it doesn't seem to be relevant. In our judgment, there are no cases where the engine failure part and the landing gear failure part are linked to each other and fail, but the exact cause must be identified.

[Reporter]
It takes a short time to repeat, but the thrust seems to be low, and the left engine was disabled, and the second is . . .

[Interview]
The situation you mentioned is a situation we need to investigate. So, I will open up various possibilities for the two things you said, and I will investigate closely now and tell you again depending on the results.

[Reporter]
It is known that there was a communication from 8:53 to 9:03 so when was the final communication?

[Interview]
I'm the airport policy officer. I now know that the distance from both ends of the runway to the outer wall is the same as 323m on both sides.

[Reporter]
Are all the cabin crew rescued on the tail side?

[Interview]
I think I need to understand the situation a little more about the situation that I saved.

[Reporter]
The 1st landing attempt failed, may I ask what caused this?

[Interview]
I'm just estimating that there was a difficulty in controlling it due to the bird collision. Since there was probably something wrong with the aircraft while going up without the first round, I had to consult with the control tower and completely repeat it in the opposite direction, but I don't think there was an accident while I was urgently allowed to land on the shorter side of the runway.

[Reporter]
Are you saying that there could be a bird collision before, not after an alarm?

[Interview]
So, since our black box was collected earlier, I think it would be better for us to closely investigate flight records and voice records in it and tell you the exact situation. The investigation is under way.

[Reporter]
Did you get your personal information?

[Reporter]
How long does the investigation usually take?

[Interview]
Usually, the investigation period can take as little as 6 months for an accident passenger plane, and as long as 3 years for a large accident. Therefore, it takes a very long time to find out because there are airframe problems, control procedures, external factors, and complex accident factors. Please note that it takes a long time because each part and important equipment must be requested and diagnosed by the manufacturing country and consulted. Earlier, a reporter said that there was a bird collision warning in the 51st minute, but if I confirm that, I got permission to land in the 54th minute and made the first attempt, but after receiving bird movement advice in the 57th minute, I got a problem and went up again and back again. 51 minutes... I think that's a wrong fact.

[Reporter]
When you briefed at 3 o'clock, you said it was a bird collision, but now you say it like this, advising on a bird collision, referring to a bird collision. I'm wondering if there's a reason why the alarm turned into caution or advice and if there's a step in alerting a bird collision.

[Interview]
Controllers give control instructions in English. That's why it's usually because of the confusion of terms. We gave you this advice to be careful because the tide is moving at the control tower, and we generally said that for convenience. Anyway, the control tower didn't have a specific intention, but the tide was moving, so be careful, I contacted the pilot.

[Reporter]
Beware of bird collision, is this the only stage?

[Interview]
The control tower sends a message through control communication so that the person working at the time can see the bird situation and refer it to the pilot. But it's not necessarily just one expression. At that time, it was found that we had probably observed the movement of the tide on the landing path.

[Reporter]
So what are the top-level warnings?

[Interview]
If there's something that directly affects aircraft safety, you'll have to take a detour right away. However, in this case, it is not like expressing a warning directly by dividing the steps, but the controller instructed you to be careful because the birds move in front of the landing path.

[Interview]
We are accurately grasping the communication between the controller and the pilot at that time and the appearance of birds at that time with the relevant control agency. So I'll tell you again after seeing the situation where it's understood a little bit.

[Reporter]
Is the communication between the pilot and the control tower not restored now?

[Interview]
We're trying to figure it out roughly. I'm looking at the details of what went back and forth.

[Reporter]
Was there any situation explanation when the pilot made the Mayday declaration?

[Interview]
So far, I understand that there has been no detailed explanation of the situation.

[Reporter]
Is there any personal information about the captain? I wonder if you are Korean or foreign. Second, it is said that building materials and rubble were piled up due to the runway expansion work, and I will ask if there is any information about it.

[Interview]
Both the captain and the bookkeeper you mentioned earlier are Korean nationals. And as I said earlier, it is understood that there are more than 6,000 hours, flight time, and flight time of 1,560 hours. And the airport policy officer said earlier about the runway extension project.

[Interview]
We're working on a runway extension project. I think we should comprehensively investigate that part you just talked about.

[Reporter]
The runway expansion project is in front of the landing point, right? It's the front end of the runway, not the back end, right?

[Interview]
From the landing side, it's closer to the touchdown side, and it's closer to the touchdown side.

[Reporter]
Two crew members were rescued, but why weren't the other passengers on the tail? Two crew members were rescued from the tail, and other passengers must have been on the tail. I hope you understand why only the crew members were rescued and the rest of the passengers were not rescued. I think the bereaved families and the families of the missing people are curious about that.

[Interview]
We're also trying to figure that out. I'll tell you as soon as I get that.

[Anchor]
There was an additional briefing from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. We'll hear the detailed news from the social media reporter. Reporter Kim Seung-hwan, there was a briefing from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport right now, can you explain the added content?

[Reporter]
To briefly explain what was announced a while ago, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport counted 132 deaths as of 16:30, but according to our understanding, the number of casualties as of 16:49 was 151 deaths. There are 71 males, 71 females, and 9 unverifiable. Rescue activities are still underway. As we told you earlier, we told you that there are two rescuers and a man and a woman in their 20s. So, they were transferred to a hospital in Mokpo, but now all of them have arrived at hospitals in Seoul.

In addition, we told you at the fire briefing that they were found in the tail, but there was a question about why the rest of the passengers in the tail were not rescued, but we are currently trying to find out. The victims are currently being laid to rest in a temporary place inside Muan Airport. Also, to tell you something new, I told you about the communication between the control tower and the pilot by time. At 8:57 a.m., the control tower issued a bird collision warning.

It's a part that needs to be investigated, but I haven't yet figured out how much algae there were, and I said I'll tell you after investigating. And two minutes later, at 8:59, the pilot declared a distress signal, or Mayday, and it was found that there was no detailed explanation of what was wrong at the time. Both the captain and the assistant captain on board at the time were identified as Korean nationals. Later, the crash occurred at 9:03 p.m., and the accident occurred six minutes after the control tower alerted the crash. In addition, there must be many people who are very curious about the cause of the accident, but the initial investigation is currently underway.

And when I saw the video, they found out that the landing gear did not come down and said that it is appropriate to talk about it with the results because the results have not yet come out. In the case of
and maintenance history, it is said that we are currently investigating whether maintenance has been done properly. In the previous briefing, we said we had only secured the flight recorder, but in this briefing, we can tell you that we have secured the voice record. However, it will take several months to figure out. In general, it is said that the investigation period takes six months or years at the most in the case of an airplane. It is expected that it will take a very long time to find out. Last but not least, the runway of Muan Airport is scheduled to be completely closed by 5 a.m. on January 1 next year.

[Anchor]
Rescue activities will continue at this time. How should we focus on rescue activities now?

[Hameungu]
The rescue will proceed in a way that expands the scope of the search in a wide area. Now, a large part of the so-called aviation oil is burned, and some of the passengers who have been exposed to very high heat are likely to be applicable depending on their location. So for those passengers, it will be a difficult condition to deal with in such a process. So it seems that the process of checking these things now takes a bit of time.

[Anchor]
Earlier, the pilot reportedly sent Mayday a rescue signal, but since the fire broke out at the same time as the collision, it would have been difficult even if the airport's own fire brigade collided and extinguished it, so what did you think?

[Hameungu]
Since it appeared in the form of such an accident just minutes after the May Day declaration, it seems that it is difficult to respond quickly even in the process of dispatching fire personnel at the airport. The problem is that when you look at the video alone, a large part of the aircraft was actually traveling through the runway and collided with the outer wall, possibly leaking from the wing or the fuel storage part due to the impact. As I mentioned earlier, the friction rate is very high when the leaked keratin actually lands on the runway and the fuselage.

Therefore, the so-called diesel leaked is ignited by this frictional heat. So it was rapidly progressed in the form of a kind of full fire, and it's shown like this. And since the aircraft itself is made of very combustible materials, the overall combustion speed of the fire and these parts progress very quickly, so it seems that a large part of the passengers suffered a lot from this cause.

[Anchor]
It is said that the initial suppression of the accident took about 43 minutes, but do you think this was appropriate? How do you see it?

[Hameungu]
In fact, for example, the combustion materials for various aviation oil, these parts, and the conditions for properly mobilizing enough firepower to extinguish the fire, to put it very coolly, seem to be the time when combustible substances almost react. So, in that area, we responded by upgrading it to three stages, but when combustion rapidly becomes a full fire, combustion proceeds in a very wide area. So these are very difficult conditions in the process of actually suppressing or doing things like this. So 40 minutes is a long time away from the golden time we're talking about. So in that regard, if this is an unprecedented situation, you can say that it is practically almost impossible to respond to fire.

[Anchor]
Reporter Kim Seung-hwan, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's briefing, does it seem that the aircraft has been completely burned down?

[Reporter]
As you can see from the report video, the entire plane is severely damaged, so the fuselage is scattered. The relevant authorities expressed that it was burned down. At first, if you look at the report video, you can see the burn after the fire except for the tail. This aircraft is a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft. In fact, this is the first major casualty accident since the establishment of Jeju Air, and it is the first time in 11 years that a Korean national plane has died in a 2013 crash into a breakwater at the San Francisco airport during Asiana Airlines.

[Anchor]
In the case of this accident, it can be said that the damage to the tail was small, but if so, should there be a high risk of accidents and a small risk for each seat position?

[Hameungu]
There are myths like that. I know that many people choose seats due to various safety aspects when boarding a plane. But in fact, it changes a lot depending on the conditions of the accident, so in a way, in a normal crash landing or this process, the front and front of the plane are quite safe. In this case, in the process of colliding with a physical wall called the outer wall, that's actually a very neutral part.

So to tell you, these parts can change a little depending on the risk or shape of an accident. In the current situation, as I said, the part that collides with the outer wall and most of the fuel storage parts are located in the middle of the wing, so it seems that the stern and tail parts are relatively safe now.

[Anchor]
Then, in the case of today's accident, can it be considered that the damage to the front was large?

[Hameungu]
That's right. In general, a safe area is formed around the cockpit where the pilot is located. As I said, it will be the same as a case-by-case case, but in this case, the part that collides with the physical wall eventually collides from the front, so the front part is the most dangerous part. Usually, it's a statistical space with a lot of casualties in the front and center.

[Anchor]
After the briefing at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, we are delivering related information. Let's briefly hear the outline of the accident so far. Reporter Kim Seung-hwan, the number of deaths is increasing differently in time.

[Reporter]
That's right. Today's accident occurred at 9:03 p.m. at Muan International Airport when a Jeju Air flight from Bangkok collided with the outer wall during landing. To tell you the most up-to-date status of casualties, 151 people have died so far as of 4:49 in terms of fire fighting. There are 71 men, 71 women, and 9 people who cannot be identified. So far, it has been found that there have been two rescuers. It is currently understood that they are all female and male flight attendants in their 20s. All of them were found on the tail, and they were taken to the hospital consciously at the time, and now they are all transferred to hospitals in Seoul according to their intentions. There have been no injuries identified among ordinary passengers yet. Then, why the rest of the passengers were not rescued, and the authorities are currently figuring out this part as well.

[Anchor]
Muan is one of the very small provincial towns. There's been such a huge loss of life in this little place right now, would there be enough space to recover and lay the body?

[Reporter]
The victims are currently being placed in a temporary morgue at the airport. In addition, there is a place called Muan Sports Park near the airport, and a temporary memorial altar is currently being prepared at the indoor gymnasium there and is being held with the aim of setting it up at 12 o'clock tomorrow. There is also a waiting room for families on the second floor of the swimming pool building next to it. In addition, the briefing is held every 30 minutes for the bereaved families, so they continue to tell you what they are curious about, and according to our coverage, the number of casualties came out again as of 5:11 now, but the number of deaths has increased to 167 so far.

There were 79 men, 77 women, and 11 people who could not be identified. In other words, I think I can tell you that 167 people have died so far. It is estimated that the victims are mainly residents of Jeollanam-do, where Muan Airport is located, and as a result of our coverage, many of the passengers were using products from local travel agencies.

Therefore, it is now understood that many people used products from Muan to Bangkok on the 25th and used products from local travel agencies, so many people left Muan to Bangkok on the 25th and used the products coming in this morning.

[Anchor]
We delivered the on-site news. I asked the professor a lot of questions earlier, and he answered that it is difficult to deal with an extreme accident at the scene, unlike other transportation accidents. It seems that prevention-oriented measures are needed, but what do you think should be centered on in the current situation?

[Hameungu]
An accurate fire investigation should be conducted now. Anyway, the key part is why the landing gear didn't start properly, and these things need to be carefully considered. In particular, in the case of aviation accidents, as you said, in the end, the so-called method of reducing the probability and reducing the probability has the prevention-oriented response you just mentioned. Then, as I mentioned earlier, as a way to reduce this probability, we need to investigate the cause of the situation where we are building a double or triple parallel system for major conferences, but since these conditions have occurred now, there seems to be a need for a close investigation into this area.

And earlier, I told you to suppress the response.In fact, even the firefighting personnel of these small airports in the provinces are actually sufficient, so it's not possible to operate these personnel on a regular basis to cover the damage on this scale. And the fire brigade around Muan Airport and these parts are also prepared for things that happen once in a while at a very low frequency, and there is not enough equipment or manpower suitable for them. In conclusion, those parts are still insufficient in Korea for this situation. So, there was a report earlier, but it was burned down.

I'm sorry, but rather than the expression of suppression, the load has already been lowered naturally. Therefore, it is almost impossible to respond to these parts in the future, but these parts that can reduce the damage a little more need to be discussed and applied in the future.

[Anchor]
Since there has been such a big accident that I couldn't imagine, it seems that those who have to use flights anyway in the future are bound to be scared. Then, is there nothing that passengers can prepare for an accident on their own?

[Hameungu]
That's right. In fact, there are basic conditions for accidents that occur in the high sky and eventually landing, so in fact, there are very limited things that can be done at the passenger level. So, simple collisions, sudden braking, and so on can reduce damage to some extent with various education and seat belts, but in these conditions where shock and fire occur at the same time due to hitting the outer wall in the first place, it can be said that the passenger's own response is almost meaningless.

[Anchor]
Shall we briefly hear the additional details of how the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explains the situation at the time?

[Reporter]
Now at 8:57 a bird collision warning was issued from the control tower, and two minutes later, the pilot declared a distress signal and shouted Mayday. Since then, it has been found that the accident occurred at 9:03 and the bird collision alert within 6 minutes.

[Anchor]
I see. Until now, Ham Eun-gu University's safety engineering professor and social studies reporter Kim Seung-hwan. Thank you.