1 of 2 | A police forensic team conducts an investigation at the scene of December’s Jeju Air jet crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea. Authorities now have suggested that migratory bird strikes were the cause of the crash. Uncredited Photo by EPA-EFE
Jan. 27 (UPI) — Authorities have suggested that migratory bird strikes were the cause of last month’s deadly plane crash in South Korea, according to multiple reports.
“The samples were sent to specialized organizations for DNA analysis,” read part of an initial report on Monday via South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board.
The Dec. 29 accident that killed 179 of 181 people on board was the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil.
Officials revealed in the first of several other reports to arrive that shredded pieces of bird were discovered in both engines of the Boeing 737-800.
“And a domestic organization identified them as belonging to Baikal teals,” which is a type of migratory duck known to fly in larger numbers for the winter season to the Korean Peninsula.
Two crew members on board Jeju Air flight 2216 managed to survive after the passenger jet made a belly landing at 9:03 a.m. local time at Muan International Airport, where it burst into flames after attempting to land on runway 19 but running off its edge and striking an embankment.
The preliminary findings, according to South Korea’s transportation ministry, will be submitted to aviation officials in the United States, France, Thailand and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Meanwhile, the investigation is still ongoing with several unanswered questions remaining.
The pilots made an emergency call in the attempt to land and initially warned of a bird strike.
It was reported earlier this month that the two flight recorders stopped working at about 161 knots and at an altitude of 498 feet just minutes before the airliner exploded with no landing gear down.
However, the six-page report did not clarify why both recorders failed simultaneously.
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, commonly referred to as the “black boxes,” both stopped functioning roughly four minutes before the deadly crash, according to the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Meanwhile, South Korean ministry officials added it will take several months to analyze further data.