Seoul: Both black boxes — the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder — for Jeju Air flight 2216 have been found, a transport official said on Sunday, after the Boeing 737-800 crashed on landing, killing 179 people. "Regarding the black boxes, both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder have now been retrieved," deputy transport minister Joo Jong-wan said at a briefing. Uncertainties surround the deadliest crash on South Korean soil, experts said on Sunday, questioning initial suggestions that a bird strike might have brought down the Jeju Air flight. The apparent absence of landing gear, the timing of the twin-engine Boeing 737-800's belly-landing at Muan International Airport and the reports of a possible bird strike all raised questions that could not yet be answered.
The single-aisle aircraft was seen in video broadcast on local media skidding down the runway with no visible landing gear before slamming into a wall in an explosion of flame and debris. "Why didn't fire tenders lay foam on the runway? Why weren't they in attendance when the plane touched down? And why did the aircraft touch down so far down the runway? And why was there a brick wall at the end of the runway?" said Airline News editor Geoffrey Thomas. South Korean officials said they were investigating the cause of the crash of Jeju Air Flight 7C2216, including a possible bird strike. The crash killed 179 of the 181 people on board. A spokesperson for Jeju Air was not immediately available for comments. Jeju Air declined to comment on the cause of the accident during news conferences, saying an investigation is under way.
Under global aviation rules, South Korea will lead a civil investigation into the crash and automatically involve the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States where the plane was designed and built. The flight data recorder was found at 11:30 am (0230 GMT), about two and a half hours after the crash, and the cockpit voice recorder was found at 2:24 pm, according to South Korea's transport ministry. "That gives you all the parameters of all the systems of the plane. The heartbeat of the airplane is on the flight data recorder," Thomas said. "The voice recorder will probably provide the most interesting analysis of what went on on this tragic crash." Experts caution that air accidents are usually caused by a cocktail of factors and it can take months to piece together the sequence of events in and outside the plane.
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