The past week can definitely be regarded as a "black week" for the global Aviation community.

In addition to one of the most serious plane crashes in South Korea's history, possibly caused by hitting a flock of birds and leading to the landing gear being unable to deploy, there were two other major aviation safety incidents. All fingers point to the same aircraft model, which is the Boeing 737-800!

Moreover, just a day after the South Korean disaster, another aircraft of the same model from Jeju Air in South Korea experienced an abnormal landing gear failure, returned shortly after takeoff, and ultimately landed safely.

Perhaps many are not familiar with the 737-800, but it is the predecessor to the well-known 737 Max. The 737 Max was grounded worldwide five years ago due to two fatal accidents.

Incident Summary

1. On December 29, a Boeing 737-800 passenger plane deviated from the runway and exploded while landing at Wusan Airport in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. There were 175 passengers and 6 crew members on board, totaling 181 people. The South Jeolla Province Fire Department stated that, apart from the 2 rescued crew members, it is expected that the remaining individuals in the accident all lost their lives.

The South Korean "Central Daily News" quoted police and fire department sources stating that preliminary investigations suggest the plane hit a flock of birds, causing the landing gear to be unable to deploy. The Korean Herald reported that during the landing process, the landing gear malfunctioned, and the plane deviated from the runway while attempting to land, crashing into the airport wall and catching fire.

On the same day, a Boeing 737-800 of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines made an emergency landing in Norway due to a hydraulic system failure. The flight was originally scheduled to fly from Oslo to Amsterdam but was diverted to Sandefjord Airport. Although the plane landed safely, it ran off runway 18 and stopped on the grass, narrowly missing other runways. Fortunately, all 182 people on board, including crew members, were unharmed and are currently under observation.

The airline stated in an official announcement that a loud noise was heard on board during the departure.

On the morning of the 30th, another aircraft of the same model from Jeju Air in South Korea returned shortly after takeoff due to landing gear issues and ultimately made a successful landing.

Among the globally active passenger aircraft, 15% are Boeing 737-800, which is the predecessor of the 737 Max.

According to statistics from aviation data provider Cirium, there are approximately 0.028 million passenger aircraft in service worldwide, of which about 15%, or 4,400 aircraft, are Boeing 737-800. This aircraft belongs to Boeing's next-generation 737 series, the predecessor of the more modern 737 Max. The latter was grounded globally five years ago after two fatal accidents.

Cirium's data shows that nearly 200 airlines globally operate the 737-800. Since 1998, Boeing has delivered approximately 5,000 units to customers.

Currently, the ages of the global 737-800 fleet range from about 5 years to over 27 years. A well-maintained passenger aircraft can fly for 20 to 30 years, or even longer. According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the crashed aircraft was 15 years old at the time of the incident. The earliest operator of this aircraft was Ryanair in Europe, which leased it to Jeju Air in South Korea through SMBC Aviation Capital in 2017.

Najmedin Meshkati, a professor of engineering at the University of Southern California, stated that the landing gear design of the 737-800 series is well-engineered and has a reliable track record. However, if not properly maintained, it may lead to the landing gear not deploying correctly.

However, aviation experts like Meshkati remind not to rush to conclusions about such events. Aviation accidents are usually caused by multiple factors, and a thorough investigation may take years to uncover the truth.

Boeing faces even more troubles.

The series of significant safety incidents this year has dragged Boeing into the public opinion whirlpool time and again. Public information shows that over the past year, the Boeing 737-800 has been involved in multiple accidents caused by anomalous landing gear issues.

On October 11, 2024, an India Express Airlines Boeing 737-800 experienced a hydraulic failure, causing the landing gear to be unable to retract, forcing a return flight.

On May 9, 2024, a 737-800 of Turkish Corendon Airlines had a front landing gear tire blow out during landing.

At the beginning of January this year, a Boeing 737-800 passenger aircraft of South Korea's T'way Air also caught fire in its right engine due to a bird strike before landing at Incheon Airport. Ultimately, the aircraft landed successfully, and none of the 122 people on board were injured.

Similarly, in January, a door on Alaska Air's Boeing 737 MAX 9 exploded, resulting in uncontrolled depressurization, barely avoiding another fatal incident.

Even in March of this year, the sudden death of a whistleblower revealing Boeing's safety issues triggered more attention on Boeing's quality problems. Since 2010, Barnett had served as the quality manager at the North Charleston plant, which is responsible for producing the Boeing 787 aircraft. In 2019, Barnett revealed to the media that overly stressed workers intentionally installed substandard parts on the production line.

Various factors have severely impacted Boeing's order situation this year. According to data from Forecast International, in the first nine months of this year, Boeing delivered 291 airplanes to customers, while its competitor Airbus delivered 497 airplanes, with Boeing's delivery numbers being just over half of Airbus's.

Editor/lambor