South Korea plane crash: Initial data extracted from Jeju air black box voice recorder

Seoul: Investigators examining the Jeju Air crash that claimed 179 lives in South Korea's deadliest aviation disaster have retrieved the initial data from one of the Boeing 737-800's black boxes, an official confirmed on Wednesday.

Deputy Minister for Civil Aviation Joo Jong-wan stated that "the initial extraction has already been completed" for the cockpit voice recorder, and experts are still determining the method to extract data from the second black box, the flight data recorder.

The South Korean Ministry of Transportation had initiated a formal inquiry to determine the precise cause of the crash. While malfunctioning landing gear is believed to be a major factor, authorities have been exploring other possibilities, such as a potential bird strike causing the mechanical failure. Investigators have been looking into whether technical issues, maintenance errors, or external factors played a role in the tragedy.

This incident is one of South Korea's deadliest aviation disasters, surpassing the 1997 Korean Airlines crash in Guam that claimed 228 lives. As authorities continue their investigation, South Korea mourns the loss of 85 individuals, with many questions still remaining about the circumstances surrounding this catastrophic event.

Agency