South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports that a Jeju Air plane that took off from Gimpo, South Korea on Monday returned to the airport with a problem with the landing gear. A day earlier, a plane of the same company crashed at Muan airport. While attempting to land, it was flying along the runway at high speed, apparently with the landing gear locked.
On Monday morning, a Jeju Air plane took off from Gimpo International Airport. He was supposed to fly to Jeju City. However, shortly after the plane took off, it was noticed that there was a problem with the landing gear, Yonhap reported.
The airline informed the 161 passengers of a mechanical failure caused by a problem with the landing gear, then returned the plane to Gimpo at 7:25 a.m. local time, the publication said.
Jeju Air. Image courtesy of Shutterstock
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The passengers were transferred to another aircraft of the same model, a Boeing B737-800, which departed for Jeju an hour later. However, 21 passengers refused to board the plane due to security concerns.
According to Song Kyung Hoon, head of control support for Jeju Air, the flight captain contacted ground control after receiving a signal from the landing gear. “Although after further operations it was confirmed that the airport equipment was working normally, the captain decided to return to the airport for a security check,” Son said at a news conference.
On Sunday, a plane of the same company crashed at Muan airport, as a result of which 179 people lost their lives. According to Yonhap, it is believed that the vehicle’s landing gear was not working properly before the accident.
Reuters has published a video showing the moment of the natural disaster. It shows the plane flying down the runway without its long landing gear and then crashing into a concrete wall.
Main image source: Shutterstock
