Did the Jeju Air accident 'antenna structure' cause damage?... "Existing regulations are limited."

[Anchor]
The Jeju Air passenger plane, which had an accident this time, exploded after first hitting a structure installed under an antenna to help enter the runway.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport says there is no legal problem with the structure, but some point out that there is a limit to the existing regulations.

I'm reporter Yang Dong-hoon.

[Reporter]
The Jeju Air passenger plane, which had an accident at Muan Airport, exploded after hitting a "localizer antenna," a so-called azimuth facility.

This antenna is a device that helps aircraft enter the runway in the correct direction, and it is designed to break easily even if an aircraft that has passed the runway hits it.

In fact, in Cebu, the Philippines, two years ago and Hiroshima, Japan, in 2015, a Korean plane left the runway and broke the antenna, but there were no deaths.

But this accident was different.

There was a solid structure of soil and concrete underneath the antenna, and it exploded as soon as the plane hit the structure.

According to the regulations of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a "terminal safety zone" of a certain distance is set at the end of the runway, and all equipment installed in it is made of fragile materials to ensure safety.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained that the airport was built to match the height of the antenna and runway because it was on a slope.

In addition, there is no problem because the structure hit by the accident aircraft was 4-5 meters outside the longitudinal safety zone.

[Joo Jong-wan / Director of Aviation Policy Division, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport: We have confirmed that the azimuth facilities are installed outside the runway end safety zone. It is understood that it is 251 meters apart from the end of the runway.

But as you can see from this accident, if there is an abnormality in the fast-moving plane, there is a high possibility that it will cross the longitudinal safety zone.

One airline captain, speaking to YTN on condition of anonymity, claimed that the outer walls of Muan airport were made of bricks, so if it weren't for the structure, it wouldn't have broken through and exploded.

The investigation by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should be watched more, but even if the regulations were followed, it caused the accident to grow when exceptional circumstances occurred.

[Baek Seung-ju / Professor of Fire and Disaster Prevention at Open Cyber University: The plane slipped over the limit. The rules or scenarios themselves paradoxically disprove that this situation was unexpected.]

It seems necessary to prepare alternatives to whether there are any loopholes in the current regulations and whether there was a safer construction method.

I'm YTN Yang Donghoon.

Video editing: Kim Min-kyung
Design: Lee Na-eun