SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The achromatic boxes of a Boeing jetliner that collapsed successful South Korea past period stopped signaling astir 4 minutes earlier nan accident, South Korean officials said Saturday, perchance complicating investigations into nan origin of nan disaster that killed 179 people.
After analyzing nan devices, nan U.S. National Transportation Safety Board concluded that some nan formation information and cockpit sound recorders stopped moving astir 4 minutes earlier nan crash, nan South Korean Transportation Ministry said.
The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air skidded disconnected a runway successful nan South Korean municipality of Muan connected Dec. 29 aft its landing cogwheel grounded to deploy, slamming into a actual building and bursting into flames, sidesplitting each but 2 of nan 181 group connected board.
After initially analyzing nan black boxes, South Korean officials sent nan devices to nan NTSB for person introspection aft discovering that immoderate of nan information was missing. The proscription ministry said it wasn’t instantly clear why nan devices grounded to grounds information successful nan past 4 minutes.
“Data from nan CVR ( cockpit sound recorder) and FDR (flight information recorder) are important successful investigating accidents, but specified investigations are conducted done nan introspection and study of various sources of information, and we scheme to do our utmost to find nan origin of nan accident,” nan ministry said successful a statement.
South Korean investigators person said that aerial postulation controllers warned nan aviator astir imaginable vertebrate strikes 2 minutes earlier nan craft issued a distress awesome confirming that a vertebrate onslaught had occurred, aft which nan aviator attempted an emergency landing.
South Korean officials person besides pledged to amended airdrome information aft experts linked nan precocious decease toll to Muan airport’s localizer system, nan building deed by nan craft arsenic it crashed. The localizer, a group of antennas designed to guideline craft during landings, was housed successful a actual building covered pinch ungraded connected an elevated embankment. This has raised questions astir whether nan building should person been built pinch lighter materials that would break much easy upon impact.