The wreckage of the Jeju Air plane that went off the runway and crashed at Muan International Airport lies close to a concrete construction it crashed into, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024.
Kim Hong-Ji | Reuters
The two black packing containers on the Boeing jet concerned within the worst aviation catastrophe on South Korean soil stopped recording about 4 minutes earlier than the accident, the transport ministry stated on Saturday.
South Korean investigators beforehand stated the flight knowledge and cockpit voice recorders had been key to discovering out the reason for final month’s crash that killed 179 individuals.
It occurred about 4 minutes after the pilot of the airliner operated by Jeju Air reported a hen strike.
Authorities investigating the crash plan to research what induced the black packing containers to cease recording, the ministry stated in an announcement.
The voice recorder was initially analyzed in South Korea, and, when knowledge was discovered to be lacking, despatched to a U.S. National Transportation Safety Board laboratory, the ministry stated.
Black field recorders acquire knowledge on communications involving pilots within the cockpit in addition to how the plane techniques carry out in-flight.
Jeju Air 7C2216, which departed the Thai capital Bangkok for Muan in southwestern South Korea, belly-landed and overshot the regional airport’s runway on Dec. 29, exploding into flames after hitting an embankment. Only two individuals survived – crew members who had been sitting within the tail part.
Two minutes earlier than the pilots declared a Mayday emergency name, air visitors management gave warning for “hen exercise”.
Sim Jai-dong, a former transport ministry accident investigator, stated the invention of the lacking knowledge from the finances airline’s Boeing 737-800 jet’s essential ultimate minutes was shocking and suggests all energy, together with backup, could have been minimize, which is uncommon.
The transport ministry stated different knowledge out there can be used within the investigation and that it could make sure the probe is clear and that info is shared with the victims’ households.
Some members of the victims’ households have stated the transport ministry shouldn’t be taking the lead within the investigation and that it ought to contain unbiased specialists, together with these really helpful by the households.
The investigation has additionally targeted on the embankment the airplane crashed into, which was designed to prop up a “localizer” system used to help plane touchdown, together with why it was constructed with such inflexible materials and so near the tip of the runway.
