77 Flights At Jeju International Airport Delayed Reportedly Due To Communications Breakdown

Seventy seven flights at Jeju International Airport were affected by reported technical troubles on Saturday. Korea Joongang Daily noted Monday that the airport had difficulties directing flights between 6:50 to 8:06 in the evening after the communication channels broke down, as per Korea Airports Corporation (KAC) and Jeju Regional Office of Aviation.

Reports have revealed that technical difficulties occurred in four of the airport's control towers and six area control centers. At around 7:40 pm, the air traffic control towers stopped sending out and getting frequencies.

Further reports have revealed that the communications breakdown delayed 37 flights, as 40 flights were compelled to holdup their arrival due to the incident.

"This was first time that the communication devices have broken down since Jeju International Airport was opened," an official from Jeju International Airport said.

The official added that the airport is conducting an investigation to know the real reason of the breakdown.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said they will check the airport to avoid the communications breakdown from happening again.

"We are inspecting the airport and will make it sure that such an incident will never happen again," the ministry said, as noted by Korea Times Sunday.

According to reports, KAC staffers immediately tried to run the secondary communication device after the main communication devices stopped working. However, the secondary communication, which served as a backup, did not work abruptly as well.

"If the primary communication equipment and emergency devices have the same frequency, they will collide with each other, so in this situation, [workers] should have used a device in a different frequency channel," said Kim Heung Soo, a telecommunications engineering professor at Jeju National University.

He went on, "I can't understand how an airport that should be familiar with telecommunications experienced this kind of accident." 

Statistics show that Jeju International Airport has served over 23.2 million people in 2014. Also, about 400 flights operate in the airport everyday.