South Korea plane crash investigation underway, with Jeju Air jet's cockpit voice recorder heading to U.S.

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News/AP

Updated on: January 1, 2025 / 2:42 AM EST


South Korean officials have vowed to find out what caused a Boeing 737-800 passenger jet operated by Jeju Air to crash into flames as it attempted to land over the weekend, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. Days after the crash, there were still far more questions than answers about the country's worst aviation disaster in decades.

Authorities ordered an immediate inspection of all 737-800 aircraft operated by the country's airlines — dozens of planes in total — following the crash, but there was still no clear indication as to whether a system malfunction, human error, or some combination of factors had caused the disaster.

Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing were on the ground inspecting the crash site, and the NTSB was set to play a crucial role in deciphering data from the plane's "black boxes," which record information from the cockpit and aircraft systems.

Officials have warned it could be months before any clear answers emerge. Here is a look at what's known about the Jeju Air crash, and some of the key questions emerging in the wake of the tragedy.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-korea-plane-crash-cause-investigation-key-questions/

[Fichefinder]

1. CVR's are incredibly complex, and

there are only a few facilities that have the certifications to open them when they are in chain of custody.

[Angleae]

2. Actually a CVR is pretty simple. It's just a digital recording device.

It's just a audio file a couple hours long. Perhaps you're thinking of the FDR which, hardware wise, isn't that complex either. It's similar in complexity to a thumbdrive, but the 25hr data file is very complex.

[Fichefinder]

4. sorry for my ignorance

[EX500rider]

3. I am going to guess the flight crew will not look good in this one

Since they were on final they should have just put her down on the 1st try, the go around and then landing long with gear & flaps up made thing much worse IMO.
Hopefully they had 2 bird strikes in both engine & they did not shut down the good engine by mistake like in 2015 with TransAsia Airways Flight 235
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransAsia_Airways_Flight_235

They had enough hydraulics to make some corrections before they set her down, should have been enough to get either gear, flaps, slats or spoilers in operation. (gear will go down with nothing working by gravity also)
Also did not help they were on a red eye so maybe not at the top of their game & the CoPilot only had 1,600 hrs.

I hope Korean airlines have also put the nail in the cultural authority issues that have played a role in past crashes.
Past examples of poor CRM (Crew Resource Management) in Korean pilot accidents due to cultural authority issues.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Cargo_Flight_8509
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiana_Airlines_Flight_214
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_801