Jeju Air crash: Black boxes missing final four minutes of data
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Seoul: Investigative authorities revealed that the black boxes of the Jeju Air Co. passenger plane, involved in last month's deadly crash, are missing data from the last four minutes before the explosion. The flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the B737-800 aircraft, analyzed by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), ceased recording approximately four minutes before the aircraft collided with a localizer structure.
The tragic explosion occurred at 9:03 a.m. on December 29, 2024, when the Jeju Air flight struck a concrete mound containing localizer equipment at the end of Muan International Airport, after the plane skidded with its landing gear retracted. Both the FDR and CVR stopped recording at 8:59 a.m., leaving a significant gap in the investigation.
While the FDR and CVR are crucial to the investigation, authorities emphasized that they are not the only sources of evidence. The ongoing probe will also examine air traffic control records, video footage of the crash, and debris from the crash site.
The black box components were sent to the NTSB in Washington last week for cross-verification to ensure the accuracy of the data. South Korean investigators dispatched to the NTSB are expected to return to Korea on Monday to continue their domestic investigation.
In a separate development on January 7, the South Korean government decided to exclude former and current senior officials from participating in the investigation to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure fairness. Transport Minister Park Sang-woo announced that figures such as Chang Man-hee, chairman of the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board, and Joo Jong-wan, head of the aviation policy office, had been removed from the investigation.
Minister Park assured that the investigation would continue in compliance with international standards and domestic laws to ensure objectivity. He also mentioned that the transcription of data from the cockpit voice recorder had been completed, and the separate flight data recorder had been transported to the United States for further analysis.
With IANS inputs