SOUTH Korea's transport ministry and fire authorities recently provided the final minutes before a South Korean Air passenger jet crashed.
A total of 179 people were killed when Flight 7C2216 went down in what has been described as the country's deadliest air disaster.
8:54 am - Muan Airport air traffic control authorises the aircraft to land on runway 01, which is orientated at 10 degrees east of north.
8:57 am - Air traffic control gives "caution - bird activity" advisory.
8:59 am - Flight 7C2216 pilot reports bird strike, declares emergency "Mayday Mayday Mayday" and "Bird strike, bird strike, go-around."
9:00 am - Flight 7C2216 initiates a go-around and requests authorisation to land on runway 19, which is by approach from the opposite end of the airport's single runway.
9:01 am - Air traffic control authorises landing on runway 19.
9:02 am - Flight 7C2216 makes contact with the runway at about 1,200m point of the 2,800m runway.
9:02:34 am - Air traffic control alerts "crash bell" at airport fire rescue unit.
9:02:55 am - Airport fire rescue unit completes deploying fire rescue equipment.
9:03 am - Flight 7C2216 crashes into an embankment after overshooting the runway.
9:10 am - The Transport Ministry receives an accident report from airport authorities.
9:23 am - One male was rescued and transported to a temporary medical facility.
9:38 am - Muan airport is closed.
9:50 am - Rescue completed of a second person from inside the tail section of the plane.
Meanwhile, according to other reports, South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation system a day after the crash.
Authorities have confirmed that all 175 passengers, as well as four of the six crew, were killed in the incident on Sunday morning.
The only two survivors were the crew sitting at the back of the plane at the time of the crash.
The transport ministry said authorities were considering whether to conduct a special inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by South Korean airliners.
Teams of investigators, including from the US and South Korea, are now trying to establish what caused Sunday’s disaster.
Officials initially cited a bird strike as a likely cause of the crash, though questions remain over exactly what happened.
Both black boxes – the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder – have been found. - December 30, 2024