San Jose aviation expert says questions remain about deadly plane crash in South Korea
Like so many people right now, Jeon Je-young is coming to grips with tragedy.
His daughter was one of the 179 people who died in the plane crash on Sunday morning at South Korea's Muan International Airport.
"This is unbelievable," he told reporters.
The plane crash was caught on video. Jeju Airlines flight 2216 can be seen touching down without its landing gear deployed. The plane skids down the tarmac and then slams into a wall and explodes into flames.
Scott Miller, a commercial airline pilot and aviation lecturer at San Jose State University called this incident, "shocking."
"It appeared that this flight was completely and utterly normal up until the very last seconds, and then it came apart in a very horrifying fashion," he said.
Miller has a lot of questions.
"There is data available, ADSB data, automatic dependent surveillance broadcast, that continuously broadcasts the position, speed, and altitude of the airplane at virtually all times. When you look at that data, it appears they were set up for a normal approach and landing at appropriate speeds, and something went terribly and tragically wrong," he said. "ADSB data normally broadcasts whenever there is power applied to the airplane. The last broadcast that received when the aircraft was still 500 feet in the air, and the broadcast stopped. That in itself is very interesting and needs to be investigated."
Emergency officials on the ground in South Korea said they presume the crash stemmed from a bird strike or deteriorating weather conditions, but the exact cause will be determined after a full investigation.
CBS News Bay Area asked Miller what he'll be looking for as the investigation unfolds.
"The status of the engines, and were both engines producing power after the event," he said.
He said the cell phone video would be helpful for the investigation.
Investigators have also recovered the black box with flight data and cockpit voice recordings.
"The fact that they were able to get the flaps retracted tells me that they did have power, yet the fact that the ADSB quit working indicates that they didn't have power. A lot of contradictions right now. But, the flight data recorder will be able to resolve those contradictions and we'll be able to get a picture of what occurred," he said.
The plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 that was up to date on its maintenance with no warning signs, per the airline.
"Teams from around the world, including Boeing, the FAA, are going to Korea right now to help assist with this investigation," Miller said. "One thing is for sure: The reasons will be determined and then we'll be able to put steps in place to help eliminate whatever risks occurred here, making air travel even safer in the future."
Two of the 181 people on board survived what has become one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea's aviation history.
