Voice recording of pilot communication is secured

On Thursday, the Aviation and Railroad Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport secured a voice recording of communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller at Muan Airport shortly before the Jeju Air plane crash. This is expected to expedite the identification of the cause of the accident.

"The ARAIB has completed converting data extracted from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) into an audio file this morning," the ministry explained during a briefing on Thursday. "Investigators plan to review the audio file to verify facts."

The CVR, one of the aircraft's black boxes, records communication between the pilot and air traffic controllers, conversations inside the cockpit, and various warning sounds on the aircraft. The secured audio file covers the two hours leading up to the accident. The data was fully converted without damage. Securing the recordings is anticipated to accelerate the investigation of the accident's cause. However, regarding the public disclosure of the audio file, the ministry said they would discuss it with the ARAIB, but it might not be easy.

The ministry also announced that the flight data recorder (FDR), which stores information about the aircraft's flight path and speed, would be sent to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for analysis. In response to concerns that the analysis might favor Boeing, the ministry explained that ARAIB investigators would also participate in the investigation, so there is no need to worry about biased results.

"Upon inquiry with the Korea Airports Corporation, which was the ordering agency at the time, the guideline referred to making the foundational structures, such as rails on embankments, breakable. It was not related to the concrete embankment identified as a cause that exacerbated the disaster," the ministry stated regarding allegations that the localizer antenna improvement project at Muan Airport violated design guidelines for easy-to-break installation.


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