Pilot at airport of South Korea’s Jeju Air crash says he ‘assumed’ concrete mound was dirt

A pilot with seven years of experience at South Korea’s Muan International Airport testified that he had never been informed about the existence of a concrete mound housing a localiser on the airport’s runway, nor had he been able to distinguish it from a dirt pile.

The concrete structure is believed to have significantly exacerbated the severity of the accident, as the aircraft’s collision with the solid mound during its belly landing is thought to have triggered the catastrophic explosion.

Pilot and flight instructor A, who has used Muan airport for seven years, told Yonhap News on Thursday, “I’ve seen the mound from the air during countless take-offs and landings and assumed it was a dirt pile. It never occurred to me that it was made of concrete.”

He said, “There was no indication in the airport charts or separate guidance mentioning that the mound was a 2-metre-high, 4-metre-thick concrete structure. Other pilots were also unaware of its true nature.”

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He also addressed the bird strike issue, which has been suggested as a possible cause of the accident.