All out to deal with the accident...Why was the damage so big?

■ Host: Anchor Sung-gyu Sung-gyu, Anchor Yoo Da-won
■ Starring: Lee Dong-gyu, Chairman of the Korea Safety Experts Association

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News Special] when quoting.

[Anchor] Let's look at the current situation with the expert. We will be with Lee Dong-gyu, president of the Korea Safety Experts Association. Welcome, Chairman. I saw it with our report a while ago, and some of the 179 victims are now undergoing funeral procedures, but about 30 people have not been identified yet.

[Lee Song Kyu]
Now the body has been confirmed, but it hasn't been identified. The reason is that the first thing to do for identification is fingerprint. But if there's a fire and an explosion, it's burned down or damaged again, there's no fingerprint, right? Then, assuming there is no fingerprint, you have to take the DNA of your family. Unfortunately, however, this problem can take more time because the entire family is facing a disaster.

[Anchor]
Is DNA verification quick? What if they're all collected?

[Lee Song Kyu]
It's faster to do it. However, it is not easy for families to cooperate, time, and time to collect. There's a problem with that. Another thing is that there are minors. Since minors do not have fingerprint registration on their resident registration, they must take some time to check after DNA collection with their family members.

[Anchor]
It is said that there are about five victims of the accident even under the age of 10. There were two crew members who survived the accident. And why do you think the casualties were so great when the number of victims was recorded as the third largest accident among all domestic aircraft accidents?

[Lee Song Kyu]
It is evaluated as the safest among public transportation if we have an airplane accident. The reason for this evaluation is how many cases occurred between the flight time and the number of flights. However, the number of times is very short, so it is said to be safe, but once an accident occurs, a major accident like this occurs. So the reason why there are many accidents like this that the anchor said is that there are many major accidents in the flight itself. As you can see this time, it's almost a fire, but it's like an explosion as it collides. Since there is fuel as it explodes, the damage and death of the people there are inevitable. If you look at parts, it's said that they moved 100m and 200m.

[Anchor] The chair
was also found quite far away.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That means that a large part of the people died. The whole thing didn't fall like this, but some of the bodies must have been damaged considerably. So, of course, you can see that flight accidents and explosions are so damaging.

[Anchor]
Do you think the fire trucks were dispatched this time and the fire was put out, and when you saw scenes like that, did you take appropriate measures?

[Lee Song Kyu]
I can't say that the measures have been taken in moderation.In the current situation...

[Anchor]
I don't even know if the word moderately is right.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. The time this situation happened is for 5-6 minutes. Since the emergency landing took place for five to six minutes, the firefighters have to gather and of course, they are ready, but these things are not easy. So I think these are 20-30 years old. The environment in which we live is the digital age, and there is no one next to the runway automatically when there is a signal of a fuselage landing. It becomes such a mechanized system that the fire department automatically sprays it.Lalji, don't we have a sprinkler system? If we catch fire in the building. Why such a sprinkler system cannot be applied on the runway even in such a state. It's very unfortunate if you look past it.

[Anchor]
But at 8:59 the pilot sent a May Day signal and three minutes later, at 9:02, the control tower asked the airport fire brigade to be dispatched. Then, this is a request to be dispatched within 3 minutes, but should I say that it was done a little faster?

[Lee Song Kyu]
Yes, it was done quickly, but it's not easy to evolve already after arriving at the site. They say we turn off the lights, but there's a bomb over there, and it's the same as approaching with a fire extinguisher with good performance. It is not easy for firefighters to go out with fire extinguishers while the debris flies to 100m and 200m.

[Anchor]
The most curious thing was that the captain shouted May Day three times today. Mayday, mayday, mayday. That's why it's a distress call. Shout three times and then shout Bird Strike two times. Go round, that is, I'll repeat it. He shouted that. Why did you shout May Day? I think we can find out the cause here.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. Before I heard this, I thought, "Is it really a matter of birds to shout May Day?" It's because even the generals said it's not easy to shout "May Day" for a minute or two. The time is very short. So, I predict that the urgent situation before the Bird Strike may have caused a problem. If you look at this, bird strikes are somewhat predictable. Also, because of Bird Strike, I will declare May Day now and repeat it again. I'm going to turn around and land again. So it's a conversation about designating a runway, in some ways. But then this crash happened within minutes.

[Anchor]
First of all, it's done in chronological order. Report a distress call, shout Mayday. And the first landing attempt failed again. So you're saying that you came up with it again and did the second landing? But if only the wheels were open, why didn't the wheels open?

[Lee Song Kyu]
So the reason for the fuselage landing is simple. It's just one thing. Landing gear. The wheels don't open. That means there was a problem with the first engine. It means a bird went into the engine. You can see us on the screen. with a flash of fire Then after that, I came back and the landing gear didn't work, I was about to land. Then, the biggest problem with this landing gear is what doesn't work. But if you infer it, there will be some scenarios. Fundamentally not only the engine, but essentially the landing gear failed in the first place. Can't you assume something like this? Because if you land automatically when you land, the landing gear is unfolded by the hydraulic system. It's automatic. Then, if the automatic is not unfolded, the landing gear will come down when the captain manually pulls the lever. But I have three landing gears right now. There are six wheels each. We have a three-wheeler. One in the front and two on both sides. So it's six. I want to pull it. You can pull one and then pull and pull. None of the three are working. If only one doesn't work, isn't there a space where the landing gear goes up and down? If a bird entered this space and was stuck in the middle, it would not have physically worked, but at the same time, it means that three were not working. Then, it's assumed that the captain didn't operate the landing gear manually because of what problem. Or there were cases where the landing gear's own system broke down and couldn't be done manually in the first place, or I was so embarrassed that I don't know what the problem was, but I guess the captain didn't operate the landing gear manually. Because it's a very trained captain. But don't we call ourselves human beings? All human beings are bound to make mistakes. It's called sudden acceleration when we're in car accidents, but most of them are human beings. Because he gets flustered without realizing it.

[Anchor]
But there's also a bookkeeper.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. But it's probably the captain who works, so it's not easy for us to imagine and put together what the anchor said.

[Anchor]
In order for an accident to occur once, all of those things have to happen at once.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. That's why we do this. In the event of an accident, there is a single, not one reason, but several accidents. There's a very low chance of an accident. Nevertheless, this kind of accident happens. That's why if you look at this accident, the engine and landing gear didn't work at the same time. Whether it didn't work or it broke down. For whatever reason, two of them didn't work at the same time, so this is what happened now.

[Anchor]
The exact cause will need to be investigated, and anyway, the captain would have chosen the fuselage landing as the last option, but in the case of Muan Airport, there was a high possibility of a bird collision when looking at the location. Because there are wetlands and things like that around. What do you think?

[Lee Song Kyu]
It might be an important point. Because we have Bird Strike right now. Looking at it over the past six years, there have been 600 times. Big and small, of course. But there was no major accident. That's what I've been saying for five years. It means that there are about 100 times in a year. That's why these problems arise, especially as the anchor said, Muan Airport is the place with the most bird strikes among domestic airports. That's why it's the best place for birds and migratory birds to live around. Because there's wetlands and there's agricultural land. Also, in terms of birds, it's a great place to live without airplanes. There are no buildings, no people. That's why the number of birds is increasing. So, as you said, Muan Airport has a lot of birds, so the probability of an accident increases that much.

[Anchor]
But you can't take off and land in a city with buildings. It's usually on the beach.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. That's why it's concluded that more safety measures should be taken because it's a place where a lot of birds can live. That's how it works with other airports. If you take the same safety management measures as other airports or now Muan Airport, saying that there must be a lot of them, only Muan Airport will become a very dangerous area.

[Anchor]
And what was a new issue today was that until yesterday, the plane hit the outer wall after attempting to land the fuselage and was damaged, and an accident occurred. It was said at first that it was a blunt object, not an outer wall, and that blunt object was more specifically an antenna called a localizer? What kind of situation was that?

[Lee Song-gyu]
Localizer, indicating the direction. That's why it's called an azimuth facility. Because of that location, the captain communicates with each other while looking at which plane is located and which line is located. But where was this? As the anchor said, there must be a runway. Then there's a safe area at the end of the runway right connected to the runway. Then the safety area is about 240m, according to the regulations. That means there's a localizer in one center.

[Anchor]
off the runway

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. If you go off the runway, it's made of concrete. Because it's made of concrete, if it collides, an explosion will occur. So if you look at the cause for a minute or a minute or two, the localizer crashed and caused an accident.

[Anchor]
From the screen, the video is coming out right now. Those red pillars on the screen, that's a localizer, right? The white underneath is a cement structure.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. You get cement. Because I left. So in the end, that localizer was able to ignite the crash, adding more fuel. So we can think of it like this. There's a localizer now and then a barrier. It's just the name of the barrier. When we're driving on the highway, when we're leaving a certain toll gate, if there's a branch line, there's a barrier in the middle. This wall looks like cement from our perspective, but there are many things that act as a bumper with cushions, not cement, right? So even if the driver makes a mistake, if it's cement, the car is highly likely to be damaged and killed, but because there is a cushion there, it can act as a bumper and reduce considerable damage.

[Anchor]
You know, the walls that come out right now.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. That wall is the barrier, and then.

[Anchor]
Until yesterday, I was curious that no matter how strong that was, the plane running at 200km/h should have collapsed and the plane should have gone through.

[Lee Song Kyu]
But there's a chance that it's going to be called out just over there. Because when we talk physically right now, there's something called kinetic energy. You have energy right now as you move while exercising. But it's about the weight, how much weight, and how fast that kinetic energy goes. The most important thing is speed. So the kinetic energy is proportional to the speed squared. So if the speed increases by 10, 100 energy is generated. Then, the weight of the plane here is about 450 tons. I can't feel 450 tons, but one car is about 1 ton. About 450 vehicles go at 200 to 300 kilometers per hour, so there's a lot of energy. That's why even if you hit a small bird, you have a lot of energy and problems. Those things are a problem, so if they have to be installed in that location, they should be a cushion that can act as a bumper. The other is the same with the barrier earlier. But one more thing I want to say here is that the plane is broken in the current system in Korea. But the captain couldn't control this breakdown, during the landing process. Then we have no choice but to collide. Runway. Then what kind of measures are there on our land? There are only some kind of firefighting measures. But in the case of foreign countries, the case is that they leave the runway. It's called a safe zone at the end of the runway. It passes right through this area. Now I'm off the runway. Before the localizer is reached. Then, the length is collapsing to some extent by this weight, 450 tons of weight, compared to its own weight.

[Anchor]
So, are you saying that it's made of a floor material that is less strong than concrete?

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. It means that the weight is getting lower.

[Anchor]
Do you have any data?

[Lee Song Kyu]
I don't know if you can see it on the screen.

[Anchor]
What kind of screen is this?

[Lee Song Kyu]
There's a plane right now, and the ground is a little off underneath. What that is is is that the ground sits down by the weight of the plane. For example, to put it simply, the solid ground becomes soft clay or viscous, so even if the fuselage passes, the brake system is applied.

[Anchor]
So you're saying that the floor acts as a brake, not sliding like a sled.

[Lee Song Kyu]
It's EMAS that we're talking about in aviation. So when it comes to the emas system, experts can quickly find out.

[Anchor]
Is that the actual airport look?

[Lee Song Kyu]
This is the actual airport. It's a picture that I actually did at the U.S. airport. It's an excerpt from the American Airports Association. That's why we said the runway was small. It's not small. There's nothing against the law.

[Anchor]
It is said that the runway of Muan Air is 2800km.

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. It's 2.8km. Then if you look at other Incheon, there's another 1km difference. Nevertheless, Muan Airport meets international standards legally at 2.8km because the airport is small and few planes land and take off 737 planes and few planes land and take off. But what I'm telling you is that it's a safe facility just because it's not in violation of the law? I mean, that's not it. What the law now stipulates is to tell you the minimum and minimum of safety. So under the current law, it's 2.6km and 2.7km, but it's all over. 100m. This is not important, but let's say there was 1km more. Then since it keeps going, can't it stop within 1km?

[Anchor]
So I was originally preparing to extend the runway. Don't you think so?

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's right. It means that the government was doing 600km.

[Anchor]
In the end, as you said, there are continuous criticisms about these things, such as the runway, the structure at the end, and the bird collision, but in fact, there were also criticisms about the flight schedule. It operated about 13 times in 48 hours before the disaster. How do you judge this part?

[Lee Song Kyu]
That's why we're like that. They say we feel tired. There is also a fatigue load at the airport. But if we do it with strength, it doesn't feel hard to move. But even light things are repeated several times. It is said that it is very difficult and that you feel tired, but you also feel tired in engineering. In the end, if the same behavior is repeated even under safe conditions, the intensity is very weak. However, that may not be the cause, but it will make the number of flights safer than usual in the nearest recent years, but if you keep repeating it, the intensity and things like that could drop drastically. That's why I personally think this could have been a factor.

[Anchor]
As you said, fatigue due to repeated operations, body fatigues, and whether there was any maintenance suitable for that will be another part to be confirmed. So far, I have spoken with Lee Song-gyu, president of the Korea Safety Experts Association. Thank you for your help.