Air safety expert shares ‘almost criminal’ error in South Korea plane crash that killed 179 people

'I've never seen anything like this anywhere ever before'

On Sunday (December 29), all but two of those onboard the Jeju Air plane died after it crashed when its landing gear failed to deploy during a landing at an airport in the town of Muan.

Footage of the tragedy shows the Boeing 737-800 skidding along the runway before bursting into a fireball when it hits a concrete wall.

The only survivors from the crash were two cabin crew members who were rescued from the rear of the plane.

The plane had been attempting an emergency landing at Muan after it the pilot reported the plane had struck a bird.

One passenger on the flight messaged a relative saying a bird "was stuck in the wing" and that the plane could not land, according to local media.

After issuing a mayday warning, the aircraft was given permission to land at the airport.

The plane's black box has been recovered, allowing investigators to work out exactly what happened to the flight.

Officials have not confirmed whether the plane did collide with a bird, but the head of Jeju Air's management told the South Korean news agency Yonhap that the crash was not due to "any maintenance issues."

Now, a British air safety expert has suggested one factor in particular was responsible for the tragic death toll though, labelling it "almost criminal."

David Learmount, the operations and safety editor of Flight International magazine, said it was the concrete wall at the end of the runway which was the "defining moment" of the crash.

Speaking to Sky News, the aviation expert said despite the plane's landing gear not deploying, everybody "might have survived" if it wasn't for the wall.

He said there was "no justification" for the wall and that it is "verging on criminal to have it there."

Learmount continued: "That kind of structure should not be there. That is awful. That is unbelievably awful.

"He [the pilot] has brought it down beautifully given the circumstances, they are going very fast but the plane is still intact as it slides along the ground."

The concrete wall was part of a guidance system at the airport, designed to help pilots land during poor visibility.

But Learmount said the structure was far too close to the runway, and had it not been there the plane could have slowed down in a nearby field.

"To have a hard object about 200m or less into the overrun, I've never seen anything like this anywhere ever before," he said.

"There was plenty of space for the aircraft to have slowed down, come to a halt," Learmount continued. "And I think everybody would have been alive...the pilots might have suffered some damage going through the security fence or something like that.

"But I even suspect they might have survived."

With an official death toll of 179, the plane crash is the deadliest in South Korean history. So far, authorities have identified 141 of the victims.

A national seven-day mourning period has been declared in South Korea, and the nation's New Year's celebrations are expected to be cancelled or scaled down, the BBC reports.