559 bird crashes in more than five years...Lack of preventive measures

[Anchor]
The exact cause of the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster has not yet been determined, but it is believed that the pre-landing bird collision was related to the accident.

Safety concerns are growing as not only Muan Airport, where the accident occurred, but also other domestic airports were found to be under-equipped with bird collision prevention equipment.

Reporter Park Jong-hyuk pointed it out.

[Reporter]
A video of a plane flying through Muan Airport before the accident.

The right engine suddenly blasts out.

It is believed to be a bird collision, and about a minute after the control tower's warning of a bird collision, the captain declares a "Mayday" distress.

[Yoo Kyung-soo / Aviation Safety Policy Officer, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport: At 8:57 a.m., there was a bird movement advice and a pilot 'Mayday' request at 8:59 a.m. (about a minute later). And there was a final crash at 09:03.]

This is why bird collisions have been pointed out as one of the causes since the beginning of the accident.

The message released by the victim's bereaved family also suggests a bird collision.

We looked at the current situation of bird collisions at domestic airports.

From 2019 to August, there were a total of 559 bird conflicts at 14 airports except Incheon International Airport.

There were 147 cases at Gimhae Airport, 140 cases at Gimpo Airport, and 119 cases at Jeju Airport.

Three airports account for more than 70% of the total.

When we looked at the height of the crash, 30 meters from the ground to 303 cases, 77% of the total,
From
to 60m, there were 490 cases, accounting for 90% of the total.

In other words, bird collisions occur at relatively low heights.

However, the frequency of occurrence may vary depending on the number of flights, bird habitat conditions, and migratory birds' arrival sites by airport.

In the meantime, none of the 15 airports in Korea were equipped with bird detection radars.

In addition, only three airports have thermal imaging cameras to detect algae.

I'm YTN's Park Jong Hyuk.