Tragic aviation accidents close out 2024
The last week of December saw multiple devastating incidents, leaving many victims and raising questions about what went wrong |
Amirmohammed Bagheri, Staff Writer |
The final week of 2024 brought a tragic close to a year marked by numerous aviation incidents worldwide. Tragically, the list of victims who didn’t live to see the new year is long and well-documented. The question remains: what happened?
Azerbaijan Airlines
On Dec. 25, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was heading from Baku to Grozny–the capital of Chechnya. While the airplane was travelling across the country of Kazakhstan, it was reportedly shot down from the sky. Despite the pilot’s efforts to minimize the damage, 38 of the initial 67 passengers lost their lives in a devastating crash.
Aliyev further criticized Moscow for the attempt to bury the incident without taking responsibility. If his claims are proven true, this would mark the second deadly civil aviation accident caused by the war in Ukraine.
The first case was the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was proven to have been struck by a Russian surface-to-air missile, causing all 298 passengers aboard to forfeit their lives.
Air Canada
On the same day, Air Canada flight 2259 was forced to make an emergency landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport due to a suspected landing gear malfunction. In the footage available from the incident, the left side of the airplane’s wing caught on fire while the airplane skidded down the runway. Fortunately, all 73 passengers on board were able to be rescued with no fatalities reported.
KLM Flight
A third aviation incident occurred on Dec. 29 in Norway, when a Boeing 737-800 skidded off the runway into a grassy area during an emergency landing. Luckily, all passengers and crew members escaped unharmed. Authorities are investigating the reported hydraulic failure identified as the cause of the accident.
Jeju Air Flight
On Dec. 29, there was another devastating airplane crash with far more casualties than that of Dec. 25. A Boeing 737-800 attempting to land at Muan International Airport, located in South Korea, crashed into a concrete fence at the end of the runway due to a front landing gear failure. The incident claimed the lives of all 181 passengers, with only two crew members surviving. It marked the country’s deadliest aviation incident since 1997.
Shortly after, the design of the airport was heavily criticized. Excerpts argued that if the concrete fence hadn’t been placed at the end of the runway, the airplane and its passengers could have survived the incident. The South Korean transport ministry officials announced that they will examine the possibility of rebuilding the fence with lighter materials.
While it may take months to fully investigate all of the data available relating to the crash, a seven-day national mourning was declared by the South Korean government which led to a devastating New Year’s Eve with all events cancelled.
On Dec. 30, another Jeju Air flight departing from South Korea had to make an emergency landing at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul. The airplane, also a Boeing 737-800, experienced a similar landing gear issue. Luckily, this flight was able to land safely, ensuring that the 161 passengers on board remained unharmed.
The year of 2024 has been particularly challenging for the American aviation company Boeing. With safety problems spanning across different mechanisms of airplanes, the company has also dealt with machinist strikes and plunging stock prices.
In the first nine months of 2024, the company reported a total loss of nearly $8 billion. According to a congressional report released in September 2020, it appears that Boeing’s willingness to build new aviation aircrafts as quickly as possible while minimizing the costs has affected the safety of their designs.
At other times, the problems were due to engineering errors. For instance, on Jan. 5 in Portland, the door plug of a commercial Boeing 737 Max 9 detached mid-flight. This was the result of engineers failing to properly bolt the door panel after it was removed to address manufacturing flaws.
Boeing’s troubles extend beyond aircraft. In June 2024, two astronauts were left stranded on the International Space Station due to a faulty Boeing Starliner capsule. This issue rendered the astronauts’ return to Earth potentially very dangerous.
On Aug. 8, 2024, Boeing appointed their new president and CEO, Kelly Ortberg. With plans to restore trust in the business, the company is in the process of implementing a safety and quality plan. In addition, Ortberg is aiming at enhancing the corporate culture inside the company to ensure the overall satisfaction of its employees.
Amirmohammed Bagheri is a Staff Writer for The Reflector 2024-2025.
