Bird strikes are a common hazard for commercial flights but only rarely cause serious accidents, experts say.
Taipei, Taiwan – The fatal crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 in South Korea has highlighted the risks birds can pose to commercial airliners.
Pilots told air traffic control that their aircraft collided with a flock of birds shortly before declaring Mayday and making an emergency landing at Muan International Airport, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
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Footage of the crash on Sunday showed the twin-engine Boeing 787-800 making a belly-flop landing on the runway without its landing gear deployed.
The aircraft then skidded across the tarmac before hitting a concrete wall and exploding into flames, killing 179 of 181 people on board.
While large birds in particular can pose dangers to aircraft, it would be highly unusual for a bird strike alone to cause a crash, aviation experts said.
Dane Williams, director of the consultancy Aviation Safety Asia, said it would be “extremely unlikely” for a bird to bring down a modern aircraft such as a Boeing 787-800.
