The flight-data recorder (FDR) of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 that crashed on 29 December 2024 has been dispatched to the USA.
The FDR was sent to the USA on Monday 6 January, where the National Transportation Safety Board will attempt to download data from the device, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency, quoting a South Korean government official.
The FDR suffered damage when the jet (HL8088) crashed at Muan after operating flight 7C2216, an overnight service from Bangkok. The disaster killed 179 passengers and crew, with only two crew members surviving.
The cockpit voice recorder was in better condition than the FDR, and two hours of voice recordings have already been successfully downloaded and converted to sound files.
In a daily update on 6 January, South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said that components from the crashed aircraft, such as its CFM International CFM56 engines and the cockpit’s upper panel, have been transferred to a hangar where they will be examined.
High winds and heavy snow have hampered recovery efforts at Muan. The closure of the single-runway airport has also been extended from 7 January and will remain in effect until 14 January.
In addition, South Korean authorities have conducted safety checks into the country’s fleet of 737-800s, a variant operated by six South Korean carriers.
Footage from the ground suggests that the aircraft suffered an issue with its right-side CFM56 engine as it approached runway 01, perhaps due to a bird strike.
The crew attempted to perform a go-around, and after declaring a mayday, conducted a high-speed, gear-up landing on runway 19, the jet exploding when it hit a wall supporting the airport’s ILS marker.
