The Deadliest Korean Aviation Accident of 2024 EXPLAINED

Who is responsible for the tragic crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 on December 29, 2024? On Sunday morning, a Boeing 737-800 attempted a ‘belly landing’ at a regional Korean airport due to malfunction in its landing gear. Only 2 crew members out of the 181 people on board the international flight from Bangkok, Thailand survived.

Authorities are investigating the tragedy from various angles but the biggest culprit at the moment is a reinforced wall of concrete at the end of the runway that was disguised as a mound of dirt. Did the pilots know that they would collide into concrete or did they believe it was a pile of dirt that could slow their emergency landing? Had the wall not been there would this landing have been lauded as a successful maneuver? And why did the plane malfunction in the first place? Let’s take a look at what we currently know and what questions we should ask next in this airline tragedy investigation.