Minutes before Jeju Air Flight 2216 crash-landed and killed 179 people in December, the pilots appeared to have shut down the engine less damaged by a bird strike seconds earlier, leaving the plane running on just one damaged engine that caught fire, investigators have found.
The shutdown likely led to a loss of electrical power and the removal of the aircraft’s main source of thrust, hampering the pilots’ ability to land, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
With limited electrical power, the aircraft tried to land without its landing gear down. The plane slid on its belly, slammed into a concrete wall at the end of the runway and burst into flames. Two flight attendants survived. All passengers and other crew members were killed.
