Flight Data Recorder from Jeju Air crash to be sent to U.S. for analysis

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Flight Data Recorder from Jeju Air crash to be sent to U.S. for analysis

Published: 01 Jan. 2025, 18:43 Updated: 01 Jan. 2025, 19:34

SEO JI-EUN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Bereaved relatives of the Jeju Air crash embrace each other while watching the first sunrise of the new year on Wednesday morning at the Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Jan. 1. [JANG JIN-YOUNG]

The damaged Flight Data Recorder (FDR) from the Jeju Air crash, critical to understanding one of the deadliest aviation disasters in Korean history, will be sent to the United States for analysis, authorities said Wednesday.

Joo Jong-wan, deputy minister for Civil Aviation at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said that the FDR, one of the key components of the aircraft's black box, cannot be examined domestically due to its condition and will instead be sent to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington for examination.

This could extend the investigation's conclusion to months or even years.

The CVR and FDR recovered from the debris of the Jeju Air passenger plane on Dec. 29. [MINISTRY OF LAND, INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT]

During Wednesday's briefing, a ministry official said the timeline "depends on the condition and volume of the data," adding that the FDR does not appear to be “significantly damaged externally.”

The FDR was earlier recovered with its connector missing. The connector is used to transmit power and data.

“Repairing the connector is not a simple task, as creating a replacement part requires precision," another official explained. "Experts said that mishandling the process could compromise the integrity of the data."

The other component of the black box — the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) — which contains audio from the final two hours before the crash on Sunday, has been successfully extracted. Authorities are now converting the audio, a process expected to take two days.

"There was some communication after 9:01 a.m., [previously thought to be the final exchange before the second landing attempt,] and the pilot and air traffic controller appeared to be trying to convey their intentions during these exchanges," said a ministry official.

Investigators probing the cause of the accident that left 179 out of 181 passengers and crew dead have narrowed their focus to a critical 9-minute window from the aircraft’s first landing clearance at 8:54 a.m. to its collision with the localizer at 9:03 a.m.

The Transport Ministry revealed that the pilot and air traffic control mutually agreed on the emergency belly landing at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla. This shows that the aircraft’s change in landing direction after a reported bird strike was not an independent decision by the pilot but was guided by air traffic controllers.

"[After the initial failed landing,] the pilot attempted a go-around and turned right, but the air traffic control recognized an abnormal situation and directed the pilot to the nearest viable direction for landing," explained a ministry official. "The pilot consented, and the landing was attempted under mutual agreement."

Timeline of the Jeju Air plane crash on the morning of Dec. 29 [KIM JEONG-HEE]

Investigators acknowledged that Muan Airport’s runway was operating at a reduced length of 2,500 meters, which reduced the distance available for the aircraft to stop, likely exacerbating the impact.

“The crash landing occurred near the midpoint of the 2,800-meter runway," the ministry official said, adding that the "runway was operating at a length of 2,500 meters due to an ongoing expansion construction."

Additionally, a concrete embankment holding localizers — the primary culprit blamed for the severity of the crash — was confirmed to have been modified in 2022 to raise its height.

The official explained that the structure, initially covered in soil with concrete supports underneath, was upgraded with an additional concrete top layer.

This is in stark contrast to overseas airports, where localizers are flimsy structures placed on level terrain that can easily be taken out by airplanes upon contact. The ministry did not explain why the modification was made and did not answer questions about the legality of the change.

The joint Korean-American investigation team has grown, with the NTSB dispatching two additional Boeing representatives to the site. The U.S. team now includes three members from the NTSB, one from the Federal Aviation Administration and six from Boeing.

The Korean team, part of the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board, also increased its personnel to 12. Together, the 22-member team has set up a temporary base at Muan Airport, where they started conducting inspections of the wreckage, including engine debris, fuselage damage and bird strike evidence from Wednesday.

Families of victims hold memorial rites at the Jeju Air crash site in Muan, South Jeolla, on Jan. 1. [JANG JIN-YOUNG]

Authorities finished confirming the identities of all 179 victims on Wednesday, four days after the crash, following DNA testing to identify the final four to five victims.

However, family members still need to formally confirm the identifications. The remains of 11 victims have been released to their families for funerals, while the remaining 168 bodies are being kept in a temporary mortuary.

The announcement of the complete identification comes as bereaved families gathered at the crash site for the first time to pay tribute to their loved ones. Previously, access to the site had been restricted as it was designated a controlled area.

Families, who had been confined to airport waiting areas for updates, placed offerings of rice cake soup — a traditional Korean food to eat on New Year's Day — along with fruit on makeshift altars, bowed and laid flowers in honor of their loved ones.

Jeju Air’s Flight 7C 2216, a Boeing 737-800 returning from Thailand’s Bangkok carrying 181 people — 175 passengers and six flight attendants — burst into flames after it veered off the runway during an emergency landing with landing wheels up and crashed into a localizer on Sunday morning.

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]