South Korean investigators announced on Saturday that they had soon finished transcribing the conversations contained in the cockpit recorder of the Boeing which crashed six days ago in Muan, killing 179 of the 181 passengers.
“Completion of the cockpit voice recorder (EVC) transcription is expected today and the flight data recorder (EDV) is being prepared for transfer to the United States” where it must be analyzed, indicated the Ministry of Regional Planning in a press release.
The EVC, one of the two black boxes of the accident plane, contains the pilots’ last conversations and should allow us to better understand what happened before the crash of this Boeing 737-800 of the Jeju Air company Sunday morning in the southwest of South Korea.
The aircraft, coming from Bangkok, landed at Muan airport on its belly before crashing at high speed against a wall at the end of the runway. In total, 179 of the 181 passengers died, with only one stewardess and one staff member surviving.
The exact cause of the tragedy, the worst air disaster to occur on South Korean territory, is still unknown, but investigators cited a bird collision, a landing gear malfunction and the presence of this solid obstacle hit by the plane. The Boeing was bent in two before bursting into flames.
Searches were carried out on Thursday and Friday, including at the airport and Jeju Air offices, police said. The boss of this low-cost South Korean company, Kim E-bae, is prohibited from leaving the country, according to the same source.
Also on Friday, crews deployed to the crash site moved the tail of the wreckage and remains of the cabin using cranes, making the area accessible to investigators.
An American investigation brigade, including experts from Boeing, is also participating in the research.
Families were able to recover the bodies of killed relatives and some of their belongings.
According to images published by local media, these personal effects range from smartphones to dried fruits brought back from Thailand.
The passengers on Jeju Air Flight 2216 were all South Koreans returning from vacation, except for two Thai nationals.
