The black box recording of the Jeju Air flight that experienced an incident was found to have stopped approximately 2 kilometers from the runway at Muan International Airport. The aircraft's fuselage was determined to have struck the localizer mound, with debris from the front part ejected as far as 200 meters from the mound.
On the 27th, the Aviation and Railroad Accident Investigation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport published a preliminary report consisting of five pages of A4 paper. This report is the first formal investigation report made public by the Committee following the incident, containing findings on the summary of the accident, aircraft history, pilot experience, and the situation at the accident site based on initial investigations.
According to the International Civil Aviation Convention, investigation authorities must send a preliminary report to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and relevant countries within 30 days of the incident for the purpose of sharing the findings of the initial inquiry. The Committee submitted this to the countries that manufactured the aircraft's fuselage and engines, the United States and France, as well as Thailand, where fatalities occurred, and also posted it on the Committee's website.
The report revealed the approximate flight position when the black box, including the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR), stopped simultaneously. The black box recordings ceased from 8:58:50 a.m. on December 29, 2024, which was 4 minutes and 7 seconds before the aircraft collided with the localizer mound at Muan Airport.
At that time, the aircraft was flying over the sea, approximately 1.1 nautical miles (about 2,037 meters) south of the starting point of runway 01, which was the intended landing direction.
As landing was imminent, the speed had decreased to 161 knots (about 298 km/h), and the altitude was at 498 feet (approximately 151 m). The Committee estimates that a typical winter migratory bird, a swan goose, was sucked into both engines. Investigations revealed feathers and blood of the swan goose in both engines.
The Committee stated that the exact timing of the bird strike, the number of birds involved, and whether other birds were included have not yet been confirmed.
At the time of the incident (as of 9 a.m.), the wind was blowing from 110 degrees at 2 knots (about 3.7 km). Visibility was 9,000 meters, and clouds were present at 4,500 feet (approximately 1.37 km), which did not significantly impact aircraft operations. The temperature was 2 degrees, with a dew point of 0 degrees, and the sea-level pressure was 1,028 hPa, indicating no special weather changes.
The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 (registration number HL8088), manufactured by Boeing in the United States, which was first delivered to the European low-cost carrier Ryanair on September 4, 2009, and was operated until it was leased by Jeju Air on February 3, 2017.
The captain (45) had a total flying time of 6,823 hours, with 6,096 hours flown on the incident aircraft type (of which 2,559 hours were as captain). The flying time in the 90 days prior to the incident was found to be 186 hours. The first officer (35) had flown a total of 1,650 hours, of which 1,339 hours were on the incident aircraft type. In the 90 days prior, they had flown 164 hours.
Flight 7C2216, involved in the incident, took off at 2:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. Korean time) on December 29, 2024, carrying a total of 181 people, including six crew members and 175 passengers. Subsequently, at 8:54:43 a.m. Korean time, the aircraft made its first contact with the Muan Airport control tower to request landing, and the tower approved landing on runway 01.
After receiving landing clearance, the aircraft was warned by the control tower at 8:57:50 a.m. to be cautious of bird activity (collision) as it approached runway 01. One minute later, the black box recording stopped simultaneously. Shortly thereafter, at 8:58:56 a.m., the aircraft declared a mayday three times due to the bird strike and initiated a climb.
Afterward, while flying over the left side of runway 01, the aircraft turned right to land on runway 19 in the opposite direction and approached accordingly. The aircraft landed on the fuselage without deploying landing gear and struck the localizer mound, exceeding the runway.
Following the collision with the mound, a fire and some explosions occurred. The collision buried the two engines in the mound of dirt, and the front part of the fuselage was scattered from about 30 to 200 meters from the mound. The tail section of the rear fuselage was partially burnt beyond the mound.
This incident resulted in the deaths of a total of 179 people, including four flight and cabin crew members and 175 passengers. Two cabin crew members sustained serious injuries.
The circumstances that led to the bird strike causing malfunctions in aircraft systems, the background of the go-around and landing runway change, and the impact of the localizer mound on the scale of the damage are expected to be revealed later.
The report also contained photographs of the accident site and the engines buried in the dirt.
According to the accident investigation manual, the Committee may include 'issues discovered during the investigation process' in the preliminary report if necessary. The current report did not highlight any particular issues.
The Committee plans to comprehensively investigate bird strikes, disassembly inspections of the engines, analysis of FDR and CVR data, air traffic control records, detailed inspections of parts, and localizer facilities to clarify the exact cause.
Additionally, the Committee is collaborating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States and the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA) in France for the accident investigation and intends to continue joint investigations where necessary.