Fire and smoke rise from the tail section of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on December 29, 2024. Agence France-Presse
As Korean and US authorities launched a joint probe on Tuesday into the crash of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, which killed 179 passengers and crew, Robert Clifford, a Chicago-based aviation plaintiff trial expert, suggested that a bird strike was unlikely to have been the cause of the tragedy.
Clifford is currently the lead counsel in legal cases in federal district court in Chicago against Boeing for family members of a Boeing 737 Max that crashed in 2019 in Ethiopia, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members on board. The Boeing 737-800, which was the model that crashed at the airport in Muan on Sunday, is the precursor to the US aircraft manufacturer’s 737 Max.
“A bird strike is unlikely to have interfered with the deployment of the landing gear,” said Clifford.
READ: All but 2 feared dead after South Korea plane crashes with 181 aboard
“This plane appears to have experienced a mechanical problem. … Evaluation of the digital flight data and cockpit recorders is essential to knowing exactly what occurred.”
The aviation legal expert noted that a loss of power to one or both engines caused by bird strikes would not normally cut the hydraulics, stressing that information from the digital flight data recorder and cockpit recorder will be critical to understanding what caused the crash.
“The plane may not have had functioning hydraulic systems, so it is critical to understand whether that in fact is correct,” he said.
“That should not have happened with a bird strike. If there was a flaw in the hydraulic system, then that would be a major issue for the aviation industry not just in South Korea, but also around the world.”
READ: What we know about Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea
Clifford has represented those injured or killed in numerous major commercial airline crashes in the US over the last four decades, including the American Airlines crash at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in 1979, the United Airlines DC-10 crash in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989, the Comair runway crash in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2006 and the Continental Colgan crash of 2009 in Buffalo, New York.
Robert Clifford, founder and senior partner of Chicago-based Clifford Law Offices (Clifford Law Office)
“There will be wrongful death claims made under applicable laws in South Korea unless there is some kind of case against Boeing or some other American manufacturer that made one or more of the aircraft’s components,” said Clifford.
“In their South Korean case, Boeing keeps pointing to the bird strike issue. If they say it often enough, maybe people will think that the only thing involved here is a bird strike. It’s standard practice for their public relations team to shift the focus away from Boeing.”
Calling for diligence, he emphasized that investigators should stay focused on the digital flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder to figure out what went wrong and how the tragedy occurred.
“The families of the victims of this terrible disaster should seek local advice on the legal issues,” said Clifford.
“It is too soon to tell whether there is any compensation that can be sought against Boeing or other makers of component parts. I urge the families to heed proper legal advice early and to keep following it.”
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Annex 13 that lays out standards and recommended practices in regard to aircraft accidents and incidents investigation, a preliminary report of an accident should be issued within 30 days of the event, while a final report should be issued within a year of the event, following completion of the investigation.