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Context:

As many as 179 people were killed when Jeju Air flight 7C2216 made a belly-landing overran the runway, smashed into the perimeter fence and burst into flames at the Muan International Airport in South Korea.

About Belly Landing:

• It is also known as gear landing.
• It is an emergency landing technique that involves landing the aircraft without extending the landing gear.
• It is the last resort for pilots who cannot launch the landing gear due to a technical or mechanical failure.
• Belly landings are risky and should only be done in an emergency. This results in significant damage to the aircraft, its engines, and wings when the aircraft skids to a stop and can cause injury to those on board.
• Friction caused by an aircraft skidding on a runway can also create sparks or lead to a fire.

The technique behind it:

• Leveling: The aircraft must touch the wings absolutely parallel to the ground to avoid overturning or breaking up.
• Controlled descent: The speed and angle of descent are carefully controlled to minimize impact forces.
• Flap Control: Modifications to flaps, slats, and other aerodynamic surfaces ensure that the aircraft does not stall when approaching at lower speeds.
• Braking Systems: Uses drag, thrust reversers, and wheel brakes (if functional) to stop the aircraft.

The cockpit crew decides to land the aircraft on its belly in the following situations:

• The chassis cannot be mounted.
• The stricken plane cannot reach the airport and lands in a field. A pilot considers skidding and stalling the aircraft to be safer than landing on wheels.
• Ditch: when an aircraft makes an emergency landing on water.
• In any other situation, the pilot considers belly landing safer than wheel landing.

Other aviation terminology:

• Long and fast landing: When an aircraft touches down beyond the designated touchdown zone on a runway at a speed exceeding safe limits, with insufficient runway length to stop.
• Slats: High-lift devices located on the leading edge of the wing to increase lift during low-speed operations such as takeoff and landing.
• Flaps: Devices on the trailing edge of a wing that increases lift by changing the camber and surface area of ​​the wing.
• Stand: A condition where an aircraft loses buoyancy and begins to descend rapidly, which is often compared to "dropping like a rock".

Source:

INDIAN EXPRESS