South Korea to release preliminary report of Jeju Air crash by Monday (updated)

JejuAir Co

25/01/2025 08:31

(Adds details, background in paragraphs 2, 4-13)
       SEOUL, Jan 25 (Reuters) - South Korea will release by
Monday a preliminary report on last month's Jeju Air  089590.KS 
plane crash that killed 179 people, the deadliest air disaster
on the nation's soil, the transport ministry said on Saturday.
    One area under investigation is what role a bird strike
played in the Dec. 29 crash of flight 7C2216 as it arrived at
Muan International Airport from Bangkok, according to a ministry
statement.
    The report will be sent to the International Civil Aviation
Organization as well as the United States, France and Thailand,
the ministry said. Seoul has been cooperating with investigators
from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and France's
Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety.
    It will take several months to analyse and verify flight
data and cockpit voice recordings, which stopped recording four
minutes and seven seconds before the crash, and communication
recordings with the control tower, the ministry said. 
    At 08:58:11 a.m., the pilots discussed birds flying under
the Boeing 737-800, then declared mayday at 08:58:56, reporting
a bird strike while the plane was on a go-around, the statement
said. Airport CCTV footage also showed the plane making
"contact" with birds during the go-around, it said.
    Previously the ministry had said the pilots issued the
distress signal due to bird strikes before going around. 
    The jet crashed at 9:02:57 a.m., slamming into an embankment
and bursting into flames that killed everyone aboard except for
two crew members in the tail section.
    The surveillance footage was taken from too far away to see
if there was a spark from the bird strike but it "confirmed the
plane making contact with birds, though the exact time is
unclear," a ministry official told Reuters. 
    Duck feathers and blood were found in both of the plane's GE
Aerospace engines, the ministry said. 
    The ministry said it would conduct a separate analysis of
the role of the concrete embankment that supported navigation
antennas called "localisers". The ministry said on Wednesday
that it would remove the embankment, which experts said likely
made the disaster more deadly. 

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by William Mallard)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com;))