Investigators turn to black boxes for answers in South Korea plane crash
The black boxes from the Jeju Air plane that crashed in South Korea are the center of focus as investigators work to determine the cause of the deadliest aviation disaster of 2024.
SEOUL, South Korea — The black boxes from the Jeju Air plane that crashed in South Korea on Sunday are the center of focus as a joint team of U.S. and South Korean investigators work to determine the cause of the deadliest aviation disaster of 2024.
Data from the two black boxes, the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, will be instrumental in determining what happened in the minutes before the Boeing 737-800 crash-landed at Muan International Airport in the country’s southwest, killing 179 of the 181 passengers and crew members on board.
Officials said Wednesday they had finished formally identifying all 179 victims overnight and that 11 bodies had been returned to their families, allowing funerals to begin.
“Today is New Year’s Day, a day meant to be spent with family, which makes the sorrow even greater,” Choi Sang-mok, South Korea’s acting president, said in a New Year’s Day address.
“I offer my prayers for the souls of the victims and extend my deepest condolences once again to the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones.”
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