SEOUL: The ill-fated Jeju Air plane involved in last month’s deadly crash received a warning from air traffic control about bird activity just one minute before its black box recording stopped, South Korea’s Transport Ministry said on Saturday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the ministry briefed the bereaved families on the preliminary findings following its probe into the fatal crash of the low-cost carrier plane from Bangkok that killed 179 people on board and left two survivors in South Korea’s southwestern city of Muan on Dec 29 last year.
The government plans to release the preliminary report by Monday, which will be sent to the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the United States, France, and Thailand, the ministry said.
The investigation committee under the ministry said surveillance footage from the time of the accident at Muan International Airport confirmed that the plane attempted a go-around when it struck a flock of birds.
The plane first communicated with the air traffic control tower at 8:54:43 a.m. as it was approaching for landing. The control tower cleared it to land on Runway 01, in the opposite direction of the runway where the accident occurred.
At 8:57:50 am, the control tower issued a warning to the aircraft about a potential bird strike. At 8:58:11 am, the captain and first officer discussed a flock of birds flying below the aircraft.
The recording appears to have stopped at 8:58:50 am, suggesting that the plane likely lost power after both engines were shut down due to the bird strikes.
Feathers and blood, apparently from a type of winter migratory duck, were found on both engines, the ministry said.
The pilot is believed to have declared the emergency “mayday” distress call at 8:58:56 am, but this is an estimate based on synchronisation with the control tower records, as no recording of it remains in the black box, the ministry said.
The plane flew for about four minutes before landing from the opposite direction without the landing gear deployed. It rammed into a concrete localiser mound and exploded in flames at 9:02:57 am.
The ministry said it will take several months to analyse flight data and cockpit voice recordings for verification.
Meanwhile, the group representing the victims’ families said it decided to end the search for victims’ remains at the accident site.
Authorities have sent the remains recovered from the site to the national forensics institute for identification.
