SEOUL/MUAN COUNTY: Investigations into the crash of a South Korean passenger plane gathered pace Wednesday as bereaved families began preparing for funerals after authorities completed formal identification of the 179 victims of the country’s worst air disaster.
South Korean investigators have extracted data from the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and will convert it into an audio file, the transport ministry said, trying to explain the minutes from the critical information. Due to the accident.
The investigation team is still working to extract the contents of the flight data recorder, which was found to be missing a critical connector, the ministry said.
All 175 passengers and four of the six crew members were killed on Sunday when Jeju Air 089590.KS jet belly landed at Moan International Airport in the southwest of the country and crashed into sand and concrete at the end of the runway. Hit the embankment. where it burst into flames.
Two crew members near the tail of the Boeing 737-800 survived the crash.
The government has declared national mourning until January 4 and the country will scale back New Year’s celebrations.
Two more U.S. officials arrived late Tuesday to join a team of about two dozen investigators, including the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration, and airplane maker Boeing, the Transportation Department said. Includes BA.N.
“They are also planning to start a visual investigation of the wreckage,” Civil Aviation Vice Minister Jo Jong-wan told a briefing.
Officials have said investigators are expected to determine whether bird strikes, landing gear failure or other control system problems contributed to the disaster.
Officials have said they will also investigate the apparent rush to attempt a landing immediately after the pilot declared an emergency.
Aviation safety experts have also questioned whether an airport embankment designed to house navigation equipment was built too close to the end of the runway.
South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-muk on Wednesday called for a fair and objective investigation, saying the cremation process had begun after all the victims were officially identified.
“The most urgent matter at this time is to return the victims to their families,” Choi told an inter-agency meeting.
Airport officials set up an altar late Tuesday and on Wednesday buses took relatives of the victims to the crash site to pay their respects, leaving the plane’s burned and broken tail. was only meters away – the only relatively intact part of the plane. accident
Moan Airport was packed with mourners to pay their respects at the altar, leading to a queue of several hundred metres.
County officials sent out an alert to encourage visitors to visit a large memorial at a sports complex about 9 kilometers (5 miles) from the crash site.
It may still take several days until all bereaved families are able to secure the release of their loved ones’ bodies.