Data extracted from the black box says South Korea
The South Korean Ministry of Transport said that investigators have finished extracting data from one of the black boxes of the ill-fated Jeju Air plane that crashed on Sunday.
Data from the cockpit voice recorder will now be converted into an audio file, while the second black box – a flight data recorder – will be sent to the US for analysis.
Investigators hope that data from the flight and voice recorders will provide insights into the crucial moments leading up to the tragedy.
About 179 people died after the plane hit a building and exploded, making it the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil.
Investigators say it is not possible to decode the flight data recorder locally, which was damaged in the crash and is missing a critical connector.
South Korean experts will participate in the analysis process in the United States, they said, adding that they are in discussions with the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) about when the flight data recorder will be delivered.
The NTSB deployed officials to the crash site in Muan County, South Korea, to help investigate the cause of the plane crash.
The Boeing 737-800 plane was coming from Bangkok when it crashed at Muan International Airport on Sunday and collided with a wall at the end of the runway, causing it to catch fire and killing all those on board except for two crew members.
Many questions remain unanswered, and investigators are looking into what role bird strikes or weather conditions may have played.
They are also examining the concrete wall at the end of the runway, which some experts say could have worsened the impact of the accident.
Yonhap News Agency reported that the ages of the passengers on board Flight 7C2216 ranged from three to 78 years, although most of them were in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Authorities said two Thai citizens were among the dead and the rest were believed to be from South Korea.
It took officials days to identify the bodies through fingerprints or DNA – along with saliva samples collected from family members – as many were badly damaged.
But on Wednesday, Acting President Choi Sang-mok announced that all 179 victims on board the plane have now been identified.
New Year celebrations across the country were canceled or reduced out of respect for the victims and their families, and authorities declared a seven-day national mourning period.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae said the airline was preparing emergency compensation for the victims’ families and would cover funeral costs.
He also said that a pre-flight inspection of the plane found “no problems.” Investigations into the cause of the accident are still ongoing.
