The transportation ministry stated it wasn’t instantly clear why the units did not file knowledge within the final 4 minutes.
SEOUL, South Korea — The black containers of a Boeing jetliner that crashed in South Korea final month stopped recording about 4 minutes earlier than the accident, South Korean officers stated Saturday, presumably complicating investigations into the reason for the catastrophe that killed 179 individuals.
After analyzing the units, the U.S. Nationwide Transportation Security Board concluded that each the flight knowledge and cockpit voice recorders stopped working about 4 minutes earlier than the crash, the South Korean Transportation Ministry stated.
The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air skidded off a runway within the South Korean city of Muan on Dec. 29 after its touchdown gear did not deploy, slamming right into a concrete construction and bursting into flames, killing all however two of the 181 individuals on board.
After initially analyzing the black containers, South Korean officers despatched the units to the NTSB for nearer examination after discovering that among the knowledge was lacking. The transportation ministry stated it wasn’t instantly clear why the units did not file knowledge within the final 4 minutes.
“Information from the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) and FDR (flight knowledge recorder) are essential in investigating accidents, however such investigations are carried out by means of the examination and evaluation of assorted sources of data, and we plan to do our utmost to find out the reason for the accident,” the ministry stated in a press release.
South Korean investigators have stated that air site visitors controllers warned the pilot about attainable chook strikes two minutes earlier than the plane issued a misery sign confirming {that a} chook strike had occurred, after which the pilot tried an emergency touchdown.
South Korean officers have additionally pledged to enhance airport security after specialists linked the excessive demise toll to Muan airport’s localizer system, the construction hit by the plane because it crashed. The localizer, a set of antennas designed to information plane throughout landings, was housed in a concrete construction coated with grime on an elevated embankment. This has raised questions on whether or not the construction ought to have been constructed with lighter supplies that may break extra simply upon influence.
