Ministry of Land aims to install at least one camera in each of 15 domestic airports in the wake of deadly air crash in December.
The South Korean government has ordered all its airports to install bird detection cameras and radars in response to the country’s worst-ever aviation disaster in December.
The new plans were announced on Thursday by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as part of a nationwide special safety inspection of airports – along with a comprehensive survey of facilities that particularly attract birds.
The Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 was flying from Thailand to Muan in South Korea’s southwest on December 29, carrying 181 passengers and crew, when it belly-landed at Muan airport and exploded in a fireball after slamming into a concrete barrier.
The crash left 179 people dead and only two survivors.
“All airports will be equipped with at least one thermal imaging camera,” said the Ministry of Land, adding it aims to begin the rollout next year.
Mobile sonic devices will also be implemented mainly to deal with “medium- and large-sized birds”.
“Bird detection radars will be installed at all airports to enhance early detection of distant birds and improve response capabilities for aircraft,” the ministry added.
The radar will detect the size of the bird and its movement path, and this information will be relayed to air traffic controllers who, in turn, will communicate with the pilot.
The ministry also said it will “establish legal bases” to move facilities that attract birds – such as food waste treatment facilities and orchards – away from airports and impose new distance restrictions on new facilities.
“The top priority is to establish comprehensive reform measures across aviation safety to prevent the recurrence of aircraft accidents,” said Deputy Minister for Civil Aviation Joo Jong-wan.
Currently, only four airports in Incheon, Gimpo, Gimhae and Jeju Island have thermal imaging cameras for bird detection, according to state news agency Yonhap.
With the plan, the government aims to install at least one camera at each of the 15 domestic airports, with procurement set to begin in March.
At the moment of the Jeju Air accident, the pilot warned of a bird strike before pulling out of a first landing attempt. The plane crashed on its second attempt when the landing gear did not emerge.
South Korean and United States investigators are still probing the cause of the crash, which prompted national mourning with memorials set up across the country.
Feathers and duck DNA were found in both engines of the Jeju Air flight, according to South Korean media reports, with a bird strike being examined as one possible cause.
The investigation of the crash was further clouded when the transport ministry said the black boxes holding the flight data and cockpit voice recorders for the crashed flight stopped recording four minutes before the disaster.