Yonhap news agency quoted an announcement from the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on January 11 saying that the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had analyzed the black box of the Jeju Air plane that crashed in Muan city, concluded that both black boxes, including the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), stopped recording data 4 minutes before the plane crashed into the navigation barrier and exploded.
Both FDR and CVR stopped recording data at 8:59 a.m. on December 29, 2024, a few minutes before the tragic accident in South Korea. This makes the detailed investigation of the cause of the incident more difficult.
The scene on December 31, 2024 after the Boeing 737-800 plane crash in Muan city, South Korea
Korean officials said that although the black box is an important device for the investigation, it is not the only evidence that can be exploited. “The investigation included analysis of various sources of information, including air traffic control records, video footage of the crash and debris from the scene.”
The black box components were sent to the NTSB in the US last week for cross-verification to ensure data reliability.
The incident on December 29, 2024 was the deadliest aviation disaster in Korea, when Jeju Air’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft slid on the runway at Muan city airport, hit a concrete wall and exploded. 179 of the 181 passengers and crew on flight 7C2216 died.
Initial investigations showed that the plane had hit a bird, as well as some technical problems that prevented the pilot from lowering the landing gear.
