The investigation into South Korea’s recent deadly plane crash has underscored a shortcoming first identified more than two decades ago — that older aircraft lack the technology to keep a cockpit voice recorder working when the main power sources fail.
Both the flight data and the cockpit voice recorders on the Boeing Co. 737-800 operated by Jeju Air switched off four minutes before the plane barreled into a concrete structure at the end of a runway at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, the Korean Transport ministry has said. Authorities suspect that both engines shut down shortly before the pilot attempted an emergency landing, depriving the aircraft of almost all electrical power in its final moments before impact.
The discovery is a major setback for the team trying to unravel the mystery of how the disaster occurred.
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