SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean authorities announced that the black boxes from a Boeing aircraft that crashed last month stopped recording approximately four minutes prior to the disaster. This could hinder the investigation into the incident, which resulted in the deaths of 179 individuals.
Following an evaluation of the devices, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board determined that both the flight data and cockpit voice recorders ceased functioning four minutes before the aircraft went down, as stated by South Korea’s Transportation Ministry.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air, veered off the runway in Muan, South Korea, on December 29 after its landing gear malfunctioned. The plane collided with a concrete structure before igniting, with only two of the 181 passengers and crew on board surviving.
Upon initial examination of the black boxes, South Korean officials identified missing data and subsequently sent the devices to the NTSB for further analysis. The reason for the recording devices’ failure to capture the final four minutes remains unclear.
“The information from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR) is vital for understanding the accident. Nonetheless, the investigation will incorporate various sources of information, and we are committed to thoroughly determining the cause,” the ministry elaborated in a statement.
According to South Korean investigators, air traffic control alerted the pilot about potential bird strikes two minutes before the aircraft transmitted a distress signal that signaled an actual bird encounter, prompting the pilot to initiate an emergency landing.
In addition, officials in South Korea have vowed to enhance airport safety standards, as experts pointed out that the significant number of fatalities could be attributed to the localizer system at Muan airport. This system, designed to assist aircraft during landings, was situated within a concrete structure that was inadequately covered by dirt on an elevated embankment. This has sparked concerns over whether the structure should have utilized lighter materials to lessen the impact during a collision.
