The flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Jeju Air plane that crashed on December 29 stopped recording about four minutes before it went off the runway and hit a concrete structure at South Korea's Muan International Airport, the Transport Ministry said on Saturday.
Authorities investigating the disaster that killed 179 people, the worst on South Korean soil, plan to analyse what caused the "black boxes" to stop recording.
Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 was arriving from Thailand when it belly-landed and exploded in a fireball after slamming into a localiser – a signal-transmitting device that guides aircraft to the runway.
The pilots had told air traffic control the plane suffered a bird strike and declared emergency about four minutes earlier. Only two crew members, sitting in the tail section, survived the crash.
The aircraft’s damaged flight data recorder was sent to the US National Transportation Safety Board laboratory for analysis, while the cockpit voice recorder was initially analysed in South Korea and then sent to the US safety regulator when data was found to be missing, the transport ministry said.
"The analysis revealed that both the CVR and FDR data were not recorded during the four minutes leading up to the aircraft's collision with the localiser," the ministry said.
"Plans are in place to investigate the cause of the data loss during the ongoing accident investigation."
The transport ministry said other data available would be used in the investigation.
Investigators have pointed to a bird strike, faulty landing gear and the structure at the end of the runway as possible problems.
This week, lead investigator Lee Seung-yeol told reporters that feathers were found in one of the plane's recovered engines, but cautioned that a bird strike does not lead to an immediate engine failure.
The pilots warned of a bird strike before pulling out of a first landing. But instead of making a full go-about, the Boeing 737-800 jet took a sharp turn and approached the airport's single runway from the opposite end, crash-landing without landing gear deployed.
Sim Jai-dong, a former Transport Ministry accident investigator, said the absence of data from the crucial final minutes was surprising and suggested that all power, including backup, may have been cut, which is rare.
Authorities have raided offices at Muan airport, a regional aviation office in the south-western city, and Jeju Air's office in the capital Seoul. They also barred the budget airline’s chief executive from leaving the country.
Rival parties formed a joint task force to probe the crash, while Transport Minister Park Sang-woo offered his resignation this week.
"As the minister responsible for aviation safety, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility regarding this tragedy," he said.
With reporting from agencies.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
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South Africa v India schedule
Tests: 1st Test Jan 5-9, Cape Town; 2nd Test Jan 13-17, Centurion; 3rd Test Jan 24-28, Johannesburg
ODIs: 1st ODI Feb 1, Durban; 2nd ODI Feb 4, Centurion; 3rd ODI Feb 7, Cape Town; 4th ODI Feb 10, Johannesburg; 5th ODI Feb 13, Port Elizabeth; 6th ODI Feb 16, Centurion
T20Is: 1st T20I Feb 18, Johannesburg; 2nd T20I Feb 21, Centurion; 3rd T20I Feb 24, Cape Town
Friday's schedule at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 qualifying, 10:15am
Formula 2, practice 11:30am
Formula 1, first practice, 1pm
GP3 qualifying session, 3.10pm
Formula 1 second practice, 5pm
Formula 2 qualifying, 7pm
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Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
Abu Dhabi race card
5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed | Dh180,000 | 1,600m
6.30pm Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
7.30pm Handicap (TB) |Dh100,000 | 2,400m
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 258hp at 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.4L/100km
Price, base: from D215,000 (Dh230,000 as tested)
On sale: now
