A crash at Muan Airport involving a Jeju Air plane. Photo: Ahn Young-joon / AP
The South Korean Ministry of Transport has reported that the flight data recorder of the Jeju Air plane that crashed on 29 December stopped recording four minutes before the collision. The plane hit a concrete structure on the runway of the Muang airport, Reuters reports.
179 people died in the crash, with only two crew members who were in the tail section of the aircraft surviving. Both were injured.
Reasons for stopping the recorders
The data analysis revealed that the recording of the pilots’ cockpit voices and flight parameters was interrupted before the collision. The investigation is being led by South Korean experts in cooperation with the US National Transportation Safety Board.
- Voice recorder: after initial examination in South Korea, it was sent for additional analysis in the United States.
- Theflight data recorder: due to significant damage, it was also sent to a laboratory in the United States to recover the data.
Details of the accident
Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 was flying from Bangkok (Thailand) to Muan (South Korea). Before the crash, the pilots reported a collision with a bird and declared an emergency. The aircraft made an emergency landing on its stomach without landing gear, exceeded the runway length and hit a concrete structure, after which it exploded.
The South Korean Ministry of Transport said that the results of the investigation could help to find out the reasons for the failure of the black boxes and avoid similar tragedies in the future.
