South Korean authorities have pledged to determine the cause of a deadly crash involving a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air, which erupted in flames during a landing attempt over the weekend. The crash claimed the lives of 179 out of the 181 people aboard, marking the country’s most severe aviation disaster in decades.
In the aftermath, officials ordered immediate inspections of all 737-800 aircraft used by South Korean airlines—dozens in total—but the exact cause of the crash, whether mechanical failure, human error, or a combination of factors, remains unclear.
Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Boeing were at the crash site, with the NTSB playing a pivotal role in analyzing data from the aircraft’s “black boxes,” which record cockpit and system information. Officials have cautioned that determining the precise cause of the tragedy could take months.
Recall that Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 departed from Bangkok, Thailand, and was nearing its scheduled landing at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea on Sunday.
Wreckage of the plane at Muan International Airport, Dec. 29, 2024.
After its first landing attempt failed, the ground control center warned the crew of a possible bird strike. The plane climbed back into the air and prepared for a second landing attempt.
Two minutes later, the crew issued a distress signal and diverted to a different runway. During the landing, the plane failed to lower its nose landing gear, skidded at high speed, overshot the runway, and collided with a concrete fence before bursting into flames. The two survivors, both crew members, were rescued from the tail section.
Videos of the crash suggest the aircraft may have experienced engine trouble, but experts believe the malfunctioning landing gear was likely the primary cause.
The black boxes—flight data and cockpit audio recorders—were promptly recovered and initially analyzed at a research facility at Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport. However, on Wednesday, Deputy Minister for Civil Aviation Joo Jong-wan announced that the flight data recorder was deemed “unrecoverable for data extraction domestically” and would be sent to the U.S. for further analysis in collaboration with the NTSB.
Joo also confirmed that preliminary extraction of the cockpit voice recorder was completed. “We plan to convert this data into an audio format,” he told reporters, adding that investigators might soon gain insights into the crew’s communications during the flight.
Former NTSB chair Robert Sumwalt noted that the cockpit voice recorder could be critical to solving the mystery. “If they can read that out, it will be key to unlocking this mystery,” he said.
