South Korea will begin deploying drones at airports in the first half of this year to help prevent bird strikes, part of an overhaul of aviation safety that was announced four months after the deadliest aviation disaster in the country.
The government also said it aimed to rebuild some crucial infrastructure at six airports by the end of the year, devise measures to combat pilot fatigue, and increase the number of safety supervisors.
On Dec. 29, the pilots of Jeju Air Flight 2216 declared “Mayday” and told air traffic controllers there had been a bird strike as the plane was descending into Muan International Airport in the country’s southwest. After making a sharp turn, the jet landed on its belly, slid down the runway and rammed into a concrete barrier, exploding into a fireball that killed 179 of the 181 people on board.
Aviation safety experts have suggested that the collision with the barrier — an antenna array used to guide aircraft during landing called a localizer — may have contributed to the high death toll. Such concrete localizers like the one in Muan will be replaced with frangible structures that break apart easily, the government said Wednesday.
Investigators have not identified the reasons for the crash and what role, if any, a bird strike might have played. But the country’s transport ministry said bird feathers and blood were found in both of the jet’s engines. An investigation by The New York Times revealed that officials from the Korea Airports Corporation — a state-owned company that operates nearly all of the country’s airports — had been warned for years before the crash about the risks of bird strikes at the airport in Muan.
The transport ministry said Wednesday it would begin deploying drones at airports in the first half of this year to prevent birds from approaching. By the end of next year, it plans to develop drones that can identify birds and release bird repellents, which will then be rolled out to all of the nation’s airports starting in 2028. Drones are commonly used by airports worldwide to scare away flocks of birds in a plane’s flight path, experts say.
South Korea’s government had in February already pledged 247 billion won (around $174 million) over three years to improve bird-strike prevention measures at all the country’s airports. Those included installing bird-detection devices and implementing a national radar model that would alert air traffic controllers, safety staff and pilots to the presence of birds.
The ministry said Wednesday it will begin installing thermal imaging cameras in June and sound wave generators starting in August. In the statement, it also said it would add laser guns to deterrent measures and acquire more cars to patrol airports. Muan International Airport didn’t have many of these tools at the time of the crash.
Officials from the government and the airport have publicly acknowledged that the airport’s bird-prevention patrol team was short staffed and lacked sufficient equipment to keep the birds away from the airport.
On Wednesday, the government also vowed to collaborate with local aviation offices and the Korea Airports Corporation to prevent birds from flocking to land surrounding airports, several of which are near marshy wetlands where many birds roost. Conservationists have criticized flight officials for building airports in proximity to bird habitats.
