"Jeju Air Disaster, Voice Record 4 Minutes Before Collision Not Confirmed in the US Either (Comprehensive)"

Voice and Flight Data Not Recorded for Four Minutes Before Collision
CVR Sent to U.S. for Restoration and Analysis,
But Confirmed No Data Was Saved
"Cause of Missing Data Remains Unknown"

Firefighters are searching for belongings at the site of the Jeju Air passenger plane collision and explosion accident that occurred at Muan International Airport, Jeonnam, 30 days ago. Photo by Kang Jin-hyeong

It has been revealed that the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from the Jeju Air disaster that occurred on December 29 last year at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do did not record the four minutes prior to the collision. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) became aware of this fact on the 4th while completing the CVR transcript and sent the CVR to the United States for restoration and analysis. However, the four minutes of recording were not found even in the U.S.

On the 11th, ARAIB announced the results of the analysis of the CVR, the accident aircraft's black box, conducted in the U.S. The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) also did not have records from four minutes before the collision.

ARAIB sent both black boxes to the U.S. on the 6th for analysis. Two ARAIB investigators also went to the U.S. and worked with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on the analysis from the 7th until that day.

It was known that the black box sent to the U.S. at that time was the FDR. The CVR had already been extracted and the transcript completed on the 4th. ARAIB recognized at that time that the CVR did not contain data from four minutes before the collision and sent the CVR to the U.S. as well for restoration and analysis.

ARAIB explained, "We became aware on the 4th that there was no recording from four minutes before the collision when the CVR transcript was completed. However, since it was unclear whether the absence was due to an error, and because the CVR was manufactured in the U.S. where it could be analyzed more precisely, we sent it along with the FDR."

They added, "It was difficult to draw premature conclusions without clarity on whether analysis of the four minutes prior to the collision was possible. On the morning of that day, we were informed by the U.S. side that neither black box contained recordings from four minutes before the collision. Currently, the cause of the recording interruption is unknown."

ARAIB collected the CVR in apparently intact condition at the accident site on the day of the accident, while the FDR was collected with damage to the connector between the power supply and the data storage unit. Judging that data extraction would be difficult domestically, the FDR and the CVR, which required cross-verification, were sent to the NTSB analysis lab in the U.S. for data extraction and analysis.

The two investigators stationed in the U.S. are scheduled to return to Korea on the afternoon of the 13th.

ARAIB stated, "We will investigate the cause of the missing data during the ongoing investigation process. While CVR and FDR data are important for the accident investigation, the investigation is conducted through examination and analysis of various data, and we will do our best to determine the cause of the accident."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.