South Korea reports initial data extracted from Jeju Air cockpit recorder

Photo: Reuters

Investigators in South Korea are working hard to find out what caused the deadly crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216. Officials recently said they have managed to retrieve the first batch of data from one of the airplane’s black boxes.

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Joo Jong-wan, the deputy minister for civil aviation, explained that the initial extraction of data from the cockpit voice recorder had been completed. This means they can now begin turning the recorded information into audio, which could provide important clues about the crash.

However, the second black box, known as the flight data recorder, was badly damaged in the crash and could not be analyzed locally. As a result, South Korean authorities will send this black box to the United States for further examination.
The tragic crash took place at Muan International Airport, located about 290 kilometers (180 miles) southwest of Seoul, on Sunday morning. The crash killed 179 people out of the 181 people on board, making it the deadliest air disaster in South Korea’s history. It is also the worst accident involving a South Korean airline since 1997, when a Korean Air Boeing 747 crashed into a hillside in Guam, killing 228 people.

Many experts have suggested several possible reasons for the crash. These include a bird strike, mechanical failure, pilot error, and the location of a hard embankment near the end of the runway. Some experts believe that the embankment, which was only about 300 meters (328 yards) from the runway, should have been placed farther away or made from softer materials.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, landed on the runway without its landing gear. The pilot had earlier reported hitting birds, but the plane skidded off the runway, crashed into the embankment, and exploded into flames.

Authorities in South Korea, along with experts from Boeing and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), are investigating the embankment’s role in the crash. They are looking into whether the embankment’s placement and construction played a part in the disaster.

On Wednesday, South Korean officials also confirmed that they had identified all 179 victims of the crash. This has been an especially difficult and slow process because the bodies were badly damaged in the crash. Grieving families had raised concerns about how long it took to identify and release the bodies, but authorities assured them that they were doing their best to handle the situation carefully.

As investigators continue their work, the focus remains on understanding what went wrong during the flight and what steps can be taken to prevent such a tragedy in the future.

Jan. 1, 2025 1:17 p.m. 455

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