The wall apparently was the support for the instrument landing system. It also protected hotels and apartment buildings on the other side from a plane crash. How many additional people might have been killed if the wall hadn’t been there?
Jet blast walls are a thing, too.
Also lots of trees. The number of airports with runway runoff fields is really quite small. Cities tend to grow around airports. Pick a random major airport, go into Google Maps “Satellite” view, and look at the ends of some runways. Start with, say, DCA.
The plane landed on runway 19 (from the northern end). It was oriented toward the sea, so there were no hotels or apartment buildings to protect.
The wall was backed by a chain link fence topped with a roll of barbed/razor wire, as if it were a barrier defense. But easy to go around.
In THIS case, probably none. Judge for yourself. That being said, were the aircraft’s trajectory not aligned with the runway, then all bets are off.
The aircraft was traveling in a straight line, same as the runway, and hit the ILS structure / earthen berm (concrete foundation) dead center. One could argue that were the berm absent, the aircraft in this case would have continued on a track straight out, as if it were an extension of the runway.
I’m trying to enter a hot link to an overhead view of the south end of the runway and the surrounding neighborhood/buildings, but my mouse isn’t cooperating or Google maps, which I am trying to link to, is blocking the attempt. I dropped the mouse rather violently on the floor so who knows?
Maybe someone else on the thread could get a working link pasted into a post, otherwise one can look it up using their own method or manner.
ANY AIRFIELD MANAGER THAT HAS A SIMILAR STRUCTURE AT THE END OF THEIR RUNWAY, AND DOESN’T DO SOMETHING TO MITIGATE THE DANGER, WHERE POSSIBLE, IS OPEN TO HAVING BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS, SHOULD SOMETHING LIKE THIS EVER HAPPEN AGAIN.