South Korea to send black box from crashed Boeing to the United States for analysis
South Korea will send to the United States for analysis one of the black boxes of the Boeing 737-800 which crashed three days ago in Muan, killing 179 of the 181 passengers, announced a government official on Wednesday.
The South Korean low-cost carrier’s plane was carrying a total of 181 people, including six crew members. All died, except for a flight attendant and a steward, making it the worst air disaster in history on South Korean soil.
South Korean and American investigators, notably from Boeing, are combing the site of the accident which occurred Sunday morning at Muan airport (southwest).
Being impossible to extract on South Korean soil the information contained in “the damaged flight data recorder, it was decided today (Wednesday, Editor’s note) to transport it to the United States for analysis in collaboration” with American investigators, said Vice Minister of Aviation Joo Jong-wan.
A few hours earlier, he had announced that the investigators deployed on site had extracted the first data from the other black box, the one containing the conversations in the cockpit. Its study should make it possible to listen to the latest exchanges between the pilots.
On Sunday morning, this Jeju Air Boeing, coming from Bangkok, landed on its belly in Muan, hitting a concrete wall at the end of the runway. Under the weight of the impact, the plane bent in two and caught fire.
– Focus on “landing gear” –
The possibility of a collision with birds was also mentioned to explain the tragedy. The Muan airport control tower had sent a warning to this effect to the crew three minutes before the crash. The pilot had sent him a distress message before the emergency landing.
Jet engines can lose power or even stop completely after sucking in a bird.
Critics, however, focus on the architecture of the airport and in particular on the presence of the solid obstacle struck by the plane, which is a guidance aid tool present at other airports in the country.
The question of a hardware malfunction was also raised, with local media reporting that the landing gear deployed correctly when the pilot attempted to land the first time but did not extend on his second attempt. essay.
The director general in charge of aviation safety policy, Yoo Kyeong-soo, also announced on Wednesday that inspections of all Boeing 737-800s used by national airlines would focus “mainly on the landing gears”, which of the crashed aircraft having “not deployed correctly” before its crash.
– Victim identification completed –
Videos show the plane making an emergency landing with the landing gear retracted and the flaps not extended.
The question “will probably be examined (…) with a complete review of the various testimonies and evidence”, explained the Ministry of Regional Planning, which supervises civil aviation.
At Muan airport, bereaved families are increasingly frustrated by the slow process of handing over remains.
The bodies were badly damaged by the accident, making identification work extremely difficult, as investigators struggle to preserve clues at the crash site.
The new interim president, Choi Sang-mok, who took office last week, announced Wednesday that “overnight, the process of identifying the 179 victims (had) been completed.”
“Our investigators, along with the US National Transportation Safety Board and the manufacturer, are conducting a joint investigation,” Choi said on Wednesday during a meeting on disaster management.
“A comprehensive analysis and review of the aircraft structure and (black box) data will reveal the cause of the accident,” he said.
The first on-site investigations focused on the locator, this landing assistance system present at other airports in the country and which, in Muan, was installed on the concrete wall in question.
The plane was mainly carrying tourists returning from a stay in Thailand. All passengers were Korean nationals, except for two Thais.
Altars in memory of the victims have been erected across the country, including in Seoul and at Muan Airport.
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