
Firefighters conduct a search close to the accident web site at Muan Worldwide Airport in South Jeolla Province on Sunday, the fifteenth day of the Jeju Air crash investigation. Yonhap
The investigation into the Jeju Air crash has hit a serious roadblock after it was revealed that the plane’s black field didn’t file the ultimate 4 minutes main as much as its collision with a localizer at Muan Worldwide Airport. Specialists warn it will make figuring out the exact explanation for the accident exceedingly tough.
The investigation borad underneath the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport introduced Sunday that the U.S. Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) had extracted and analyzed black field information between Jan. 7 and 11 (native time).
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) final saved information at 8:58:49 a.m. on Dec. 29, moments earlier than the captain declared a mayday at 8:59 a.m. The flight information recorder (FDR) additionally ceased recording at an analogous time.
The investigation board stated it’s going to examine why the black field stopped recording. Two investigators presently within the U.S. will return on Jan. 13 with the black field for additional evaluation in South Korea.
An investigation board official stated, “We recognized on Jan. 4 that the CVR had stopped recording however delayed asserting the findings till the NTSB accomplished cross-verification.”

Law enforcement officials look at the Jeju Air crash web site at Muan Worldwide Airport in South Jeolla Province, Sunday. Yonhap
Lacking data hinder crash evaluation
Specialists specific concern over the lack of probably the most crucial information, because the CVR data conversations between the captain and co-pilot, whereas the FDR captures detailed plane efficiency information, together with engine energy.
Kim Kwang-il, a professor of aviation operations at Silla College, stated, “With out recordings of the decisive moments, investigating the reason for the crash has develop into extraordinarily difficult.”
Key questions stay unanswered, akin to when the chicken strike occurred, which engines failed and when and whether or not the touchdown gear stopped functioning.
Whereas consultants agree the crash resulted from a chicken strike that induced engine failure and compelled an emergency stomach touchdown, this stays speculative within the absence of direct proof.
Crew choices stay unclear
The lacking information additionally obscures the pilots’ decision-making course of. The CVR might have clarified why the crew selected to not land instantly on runway 1 however as an alternative executed a go-around and tried a stomach touchdown in the other way on runway 19.
With out these data, the explanations behind these crucial choices stay a thriller.
Professor Kwon Bo-heon of Far East College highlighted the restrictions of analyzing solely touchdown footage. “As an illustration, with out exact information on altitude, velocity, engine standing and energy provide on the time of the chicken strike, it’s tough to refute various theories, such because the engines failing because of causes aside from the chicken strike,” Kwon stated.
Kwon prompt that each engines seemingly failed throughout or shortly after the chicken strike, because the black field depends on engine-generated energy.
Whereas auxiliary energy items (APUs) might have offered energy, it’s broadly believed the pilots neither had the time nor the necessity to activate them. Moreover, investigators should decide why the 2 backup batteries, designed to produce energy routinely in case of failure, didn’t operate as meant.
The lacking information additionally complicates assigning accountability. Whether or not a chicken strike occurred inside or exterior the airport boundary might affect the extent of accountability borne by the Korea Airports Corp. or different authorities.
It stays unclear if the CVR recorded the captain’s “mayday” name. Whereas acknowledging the black field information’s significance, the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) emphasised its dedication to investigating different proof to find out the reason for the crash.
By the tip of the month, wreckage from the engine and wings might be transported from Muan Worldwide Airport to the ARAIB’s take a look at and evaluation middle at Gimpo Worldwide Airport for additional examination.

Bereaved households go to the Jeju Air crash web site at Muan Worldwide Airport, Saturday, two weeks after the accident. Yonhap
Aircraft lacked backup energy to black field
A number of media shops reported that the crashed Jeju Air airplane lacked a Recorder Impartial Energy Provide (RIPS). This backup battery, linked to the CVR, offers over 9 minutes of energy throughout a shutdown to make sure crucial cockpit audio, together with communications from the captain, is recorded in emergencies.
South Korea’s Operational Technical Requirements for Mounted-Wing Plane, up to date on Jan. 1, 2018, mandate that every one plane launched domestically after that date will need to have RIPS put in on CVRs. Nonetheless, the rule will not be retroactive, so the accident plane, launched in 2017, was exempt from the requirement.
In contrast to the CVR, FDRs — which log digital alerts akin to flight paths and speeds — usually are not required to have backup energy. It is because as soon as an plane shuts down, all digital alerts stop, leaving no information to file. Thus, a backup energy provide for FDRs is deemed pointless.
This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Occasions, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Occasions.