‍DALLAS – It’s going to take a while longer to understand exactly what went wrong in the Jeju Air (7C) crash at Muan International Airport (MWX) on December 29, 2024. 

That’s because one of the flight data recorders from the Boeing 737-800 that belly landed on the runway and slid off the runway, erupting into a fireball, is too badly damaged to have the data extracted in South Korea.

Of the 181 passengers on board, two crew members, one male and one female, sitting in the rear of the aircraft, survived.

Investigators from South Korea, the United States, and Boeing have been examining the crash site in southwestern Muan since the disaster occurred.

“The damaged flight data recorder has been deemed irrecoverable for data extraction domestically,” said South Korean Deputy Minister for Civil Aviation Joo Jong-wan.

“It was agreed today to transport it to the United States for analysis in collaboration with the US National Transportation Safety Board.”

Local sources told reporters that both black boxes had been recovered. Regarding the cockpit voice recorder, Joo stated, “The initial data extraction has already been completed.” Officials plan to convert that data into audio format so investigators can hear the pilots' final communications.

Featured image: A flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder installed on their mounting trays in the rear fuselage of an aircraft.

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