South Korea to release preliminary report on Jeju Air crash by Jan. 27

South Korea’s Ministry of Transport announced that it will release a preliminary report by January 27 on the tragic Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people on December 29, 2024, marking the deadliest air disaster in the nation's history.

The report will investigate several factors, including the possibility of a bird strike contributing to the crash of flight 7C2216, which occurred as the plane was approaching Muan International Airport from Bangkok, Caliber.Az reports referring to foreign media.

According to the ministry, the investigation is focusing on whether a bird strike played a role in the disaster.

The preliminary findings will be shared with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), as well as with aviation authorities in the United States, France, and Thailand. South Korean officials are working in cooperation with investigators from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA).

It will take several months to thoroughly analyze and verify flight data, cockpit voice recordings, and communications with the control tower. The cockpit voice recorder, however, stopped recording just four minutes and seven seconds before the crash.

The incident unfolded at approximately 08:58 a.m. when the flight crew discussed observing birds flying beneath the Boeing 737-800. A distress call was made at 08:58:56, as the pilots reported a bird strike during a go-around. CCTV footage from the airport confirmed that the plane made contact with birds during the maneuver, although the exact moment of impact could not be determined.

The crash occurred at 09:02:57 a.m., when the aircraft slammed into an embankment and erupted into flames. Tragically, all passengers were killed, with only two crew members surviving in the tail section of the plane.

Surveillance footage, taken from a distance, was unable to capture whether the bird strike caused sparks, but it did confirm that the plane had made contact with birds. Additionally, duck feathers and blood were found in both engines of the aircraft, officials said.

A separate investigation will focus on the role of the concrete embankment that supported navigation antennas, known as localizers. Experts have suggested that the embankment may have worsened the severity of the crash, and the ministry has announced plans to remove it in the near future.

By Tamilla Hasanova