Cause of South Korea plane crash unclear as officials focus on bird strikes

Experts say bird strikes are relatively common and should not have been enough to cause landing gear failure

South Korea plane crash – live updates

No one knows for certain what caused Jeju Air flight 7C2216 to crash, killing all but two of its 181 passengers and crew. As darkness fell at Muan international airport in South Korea and officials fielded questions from distraught relatives of the dead, the most likely explanation was that the plane had been struck by one or more birds, triggering a sequence of events that prevented the pilot from deploying the landing gear.

Aviation officials focused on bird strikes – and, to a lesser extent, the weather – as the most probable cause, even as some experts said the relatively common phenomenon would not have been enough to cause a catastrophic failure of the landing gear.

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