Two Sajo Committee Investigators to FDR and the U.S.
"Uncertain if Investigation Will Begin Immediately Upon Arrival in the U.S."
One Additional Member Added to the Korea-U.S. Joint Investigation Team, Total 23 Members
Joo Jong-wan, Director of the Aviation Policy Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is giving a briefing related to the passenger plane crash accident at Jeonnam Muan International Airport held at the Government Sejong Complex. Photo by Yonhap News
Two investigators of the passenger plane accident at Jeonnam Muan International Airport will head to the United States on the 6th carrying the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) recovered from the accident aircraft.
Joo Jong-wan, Director of the Aviation Policy Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said at a briefing on the accident held at the Government Complex Sejong on the 3rd, "Two investigators from the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board under MOLIT will go to the U.S. next Monday to extract and analyze the FDR data together with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)."
Arrival of the investigators in the U.S. does not mean that the FDR analysis will begin immediately. Yoo Kyung-soo, Director of Aviation Safety Policy at MOLIT, stated, "It is not clear whether the FDR analysis will start immediately upon arrival in the U.S., but after consultation with the U.S. side, the departure was scheduled for the 6th."
On the same day, the number of personnel in the Korea-U.S. joint investigation team increased from 22 to 23. Director Joo said, "One additional representative from GE, the American aircraft engine manufacturer, has joined the team."
GE is the U.S. company of CFMI, the joint venture that manufactured the aircraft engine for the accident aircraft, a B737-800. Director Yoo explained, "The engine installed by the American Boeing side is handled by GE."
Regarding the completion time for transcribing the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) recordings, Director Joo said, "According to the Accident Investigation Board, there is no definite deadline for finishing the work, but we expect to proceed with the transcription as quickly as we converted the CVR data into audio files earlier than expected." The Accident Investigation Board converted the CVR data into audio files the day before and is currently preparing the transcript.
Meanwhile, MOLIT is conducting a special safety inspection on six airlines, including Jeju Air, focusing on the operation and maintenance records of aircraft of the same model as the accident aircraft, until the 10th. The inspection was originally scheduled from December 30 of last year until this day.
Director Joo explained, "Additional issues were raised during the maintenance and situation checks, so the inspection target was expanded to review these." Director Yoo added, "Previously, the focus was on three main areas: engine, landing gear, and fault records, but we judged that it is necessary to additionally check compliance with maintenance times and securing an adequate quantity of parts, so the inspection period was extended by one week."
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