Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Jane
Really fast and late touching down.  And why a concrete barrier instead of a soft overrun section? |
If you look at Google Maps street view of the airport, the entire perimeter is surrounded by concrete walls topped with barbed wire with several elevated guard towers along those walls. My guess is that it is/was a military base at some time, or else they are trying to secure it from invasion because it is along the coast and they have a pesky neighbor to the north.
Beyond the runway in that direction is a bunch of beach resorts/hotels, and then a huge bay. Nothing that a plane with any ability whatsoever to climb would have not been able to clear. At the speed that the plane was moving when it impacted the concrete wall, it would probably have kept sliding into the neighborhood like it was on skis and killed even more people if there was no wall and with a gravel trap at the end of that runway.
I saw a later news report claiming that the plane was initially trying to land on that runway south-to-north into the wind, and for some reason wound up landing north-to-south. The tower said that the flight crew called "Mayday, mayday, mayday. Bird strike, bird strike" before the crash.
There was also a report this morning that the South Korean government issued orders for airlines to mechanically inspect all 737's but the news didn't say what they were looking for.....