Last 4 minutes of aircraft data missing

[Anchor]

It has been confirmed that the last 4 minutes of data before the collision were not recorded on the black box of the Jeju Air accident aircraft.

This means that crucial evidence has been lost, and it raises questions about how this will affect the investigation into the cause of the accident.
Reporter Lee Seung-cheol has the details.

[Report]

At 8:59 AM, when the Jeju Air pilot shouted "Mayday" and mentioned "bird strike" and "go-around," that was the last moment data was recorded in the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) of the accident aircraft.

After that, there was no data recorded for about 4 minutes until it collided with the localizer hill at 9:03 AM.

It has not been confirmed whether the moment of the Mayday declaration was captured.

The CVR contains conversations between the pilots, while the FDR provides information on the operation of the aircraft's engines.

This data is key evidence to understand the process from the go-around to the collision.

The accident investigation committee realized on the 4th that there was no record of the last 4 minutes after completing the CVR transcript.

As a result, they sent both the damaged FDR and the CVR to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, but confirmed that neither device had the "last 4 minutes" of data.

Regarding the cause, it has been suggested that both engines failed due to a bird strike, and that the power supply to the black box was interrupted, leading to the loss of recording.

However, there are concerns that if the engines had stopped, the emergency battery could have supplied power, preventing any loss of data.

[Go Seung-hee/Professor/Department of Aviation Operations, Silla University: "I think we need to check whether the battery performance of the aircraft was functioning properly through pre-flight and post-flight inspections, and ensure that the maintenance records for such batteries are well documented."]

The accident investigation committee stated that they would investigate whether the power supply was completely cut off or if there was an issue with the emergency battery to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Initially, the investigation committee planned to determine the cause of the accident by synthesizing data from the black box, control records, and on-site investigations, but there are concerns that the investigation period may be prolonged.

This is KBS News, Lee Seung-cheol reporting.