On December 29, 2024, we saw a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash land in Muan, South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 people onboard. This marked the deadliest crash ever on South Korean soil, and at the time, the deadliest crash globally since 2018 (in the meantime, the Air India Boeing 787-8 crash took over that title).
As you’d expect, aviation accident investigations take some time, and authorities are starting to reveal more findings from their investigation. I first covered this last week, but we now have some more conclusive details, as flagged by Reuters. However, it seems that the union representing pilots, as well as families of the victims, aren’t happy with what’s being shared…
Jeju Air Boeing 737 pilots shut down wrong engine
As a reminder of the very basics of this accident, we know that the Jeju Air Boeing 737 suffered a bird strike while on approach to Muan, as that’s what pilots communicated to air traffic controllers. The plane seemed to completely lose power, as the gear couldn’t deploy, and the black box data is even missing for the last four minutes of the flight.
So in that sense, it’s impressive that the plane even managed to land on the runway. What made this so tragic and fatal is that there was a barrier at the end of the runway, which the plane crashed into, and then it caught fire, breaking the plane into two. That’s what contributed to the high fatality count, and the design of the barrier is now under serious scrutiny.
However, what actually happened here? Why did the plane seemingly lose power in both engines? Was this like US Airways flight 1549, which landed in the Hudson River, where the birds took out both engines? Not quite…
South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board has determined that there’s evidence that the pilots shut down the less damaged of the two engines 19 seconds after the bird strike. After the bird strike, the right engine had a surge and emitted flames and black smoke.
The cockpit voice recorder, computer data, and physical engine switch found in the wreckage, showed that pilots shut off the left engine instead of the right engine. Not only that, but investigators have determined that the left engine “was confirmed to be generating output sufficient for flight,” meaning that if the incorrect engine hadn’t been shut off, the plane could have maintained power, and likely landed safely.
During the investigation, no defects were found with the aircraft or its engines. Investigators don’t yet know why the pilots turned off the wrong engine.
This wouldn’t be the first time that a fatal accident happened because pilots turned off the wrong engine. In the 1989 Kengworth air disaster, a British Midland Boeing 737-400 crashed when the pilots turned off the wrong engine while on final approach to the airport.
Families & pilots aren’t happy with these findings
Investigators are expected to issue a final report in June 2026, so these findings are only part of a preliminary report. A little over a week ago, their plan was to hold a media briefing with updates about the investigation, but that ended up being canceled, after objections from families and representatives of the pilots union.
Families of the victims were reportedly briefed on the report ahead of its planned release, but objected to the publication, claiming that it appears to blame pilots, without exploring other contributing factors. The families claim the investigation needs to focus on the barrier, which may have contributed to the high death toll. Families also claim that the proposed report used some phrases that could be interpreted as a final conclusion having been reached.
The union representing pilots claims that investigators are “misleading the public” and “silent about organisational responsibility,” emphasizing that bird remains were found in both engines. The union states that investigators are trying to make the pilots the “scapegoats,” by not providing scientific or technological grounds to show that the plane could’ve landed with only the left engine turned on.
So this is a tricky situation, if you ask me:
- I appreciate if investigators want to release an interim report with more details about what they know happened
- That interim report isn’t a final report, so it also doesn’t preclude other factors, like the location of the barrier, which no doubt contributed to the death toll on this flight
- It sounds like investigators are confident that the left engine was working better than the right engine, and that it had enough thrust to allow the plane to continue to operate
One major challenge with aircraft accident investigations is that no matter what, some party (or parties) won’t be happy with the details provided. Sometimes it’s the union representing pilots, sometimes it’s the airline, sometimes it’s the aircraft manufacturer, sometimes it’s the pilots, sometimes it’s the government.
As much as technology has improved, it often feels like we’re regressing when it comes to learning from aircraft accidents. For example, China is refusing to reveal the cause of the deadly March 2022 Boeing 737 crash on “national security and social stability” grounds.
Furthermore, it also feels like the percentage of accidents where pilot error is a major contributing factor is increasing drastically over time. Perhaps that’s a testament to how well built planes are, and that aircraft issues as such are rarely the root cause of accidents. Ultimately aviation is (at least broadly) as safe as it has ever been, and humans can’t be programmed like computers can.
Bottom line
Investigators in South Korea have determined that the pilots of the Jeju Air Boeing 737 that crashed in late 2024 shut down the left engine following a bird strike, even though it was the engine that was working better. Investigators believe that the engine that was shut down would’ve had sufficient thrust to continue to power the aircraft, preventing this disaster.
While this definitely isn’t the only cause of the high death count, it certainly seems like a contributing factor, especially if the engine would’ve prevented the plane from losing power.
Both the union representing pilots and the families of victims are objecting to the release of these findings, believing that there were more structural issues that caused this. So it seems that for now, investigators won’t release their reports, at least officially. However, the report has been leaked to some media outlets.
What do you make of this Jeju Air Boeing 737 crash update?
