"Everyone Would Have Survived Without the Concrete Embankment" Fallout from Unreleased Government Report

"Even Without Concrete, There Would Have Been No Serious Injuries"
Joo Jinwoo Criticizes: "Is the Passive Response Because It Happened in Honam?"

The site of the Jeju Air passenger plane collision and explosion accident at Muan International Airport, Jeonnam. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang

A research report analyzing the impact of the concrete embankment at Muan Airport on the December 29 passenger plane disaster has been obtained. Using supercomputers, the team conducted collision simulations to calculate the impact force and the number of seriously injured passengers for each scenario. The analysis found that if the concrete embankment had not been present, the aircraft would have skidded for 770 meters after a belly landing and come to a stop.

According to an SBS report on January 8, the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport officially commissioned the Korean Society of Computational Structural Engineering to conduct the relevant research in March of last year. Although bereaved families had requested its disclosure, the report had not been made public until SBS obtained it through Assemblywoman Kim Eunhye's office.

The research team presented simulation results indicating that all passengers would have survived if the concrete embankment had not been present. Furthermore, if the localizer had been constructed from a breakable structure instead of concrete, the aircraft would have broken through the 10-meter-high security fence at Muan Airport, but again, no serious injuries would have occurred according to the analysis.

The research team created virtual models of the aircraft, runway, ground, and various structures based on on-site investigations at Muan Airport, and conducted a detailed analysis using a supercomputer. They estimated the impact on casualties by analyzing the shock experienced by each passenger seat during the collision with the concrete embankment and comparing it to the impact in the absence of the embankment.

Assemblywoman Kim Eunhye told SBS, "The simulation result showing that no one would have died at Muan Airport, where 179 people lost their lives, if not for the embankment, is shocking." She emphasized, "We will make sure to clarify through a parliamentary investigation what discussions led to the construction of the concrete embankment in the initial design, and why it was not corrected during the 2020 renovation work."

Joo Jinwoo: "The Serious Accident Punishment Act should be applied... Is the passive response because it happened in Honam?"

Assemblyman Joo Jinwoo of the People Power Party also pointed out that "the Muan Airport passenger plane disaster has been revealed to be a man-made disaster," calling the results shocking.

On January 8, Assemblyman Joo criticized via his social media account, "President Lee Jaemyung and the Democratic Party showed an unusually lukewarm attitude from the early stages of the major disaster in Muan," and added, "There were even attempts to blame migratory birds and frame it as a natural disaster."

He further criticized the tendency to remain silent when accidents occur in Honam. Assemblyman Joo stated, "Should we keep quiet and hide things just because the accident happened in Honam? Is it acceptable to be this passive in uncovering the truth simply because it happened in Honam?" He continued, "We are all citizens, and the grief-stricken cries of the bereaved families must not be ignored. Instead of wasting taxpayer money on a comprehensive special prosecutor, we should conduct a special investigation into the Muan Airport disaster."