The fourth day of the Jeju Air disaster...Difficulty in analyzing flight recorders

■ Host: anchor Yoon Bori, anchor Na Kyung-chul
■ Starring: Ham Eun-gu, professor of safety engineering at Eul-gu District, lawyer Sohn Soo-ho

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN Newswide] when quoting.

[Anchor]
On the fourth day of the Jeju Air disaster, an on-site accident investigation to determine the cause of the disaster has also begun in earnest.

[Anchor]
Let's take a look at the related information with two lawyers, Seo So-ho, a safety engineering professor at the Eulji University. Welcome.

[Anchor]
All 179 people have been identified. At the same time, the funeral process began in earnest.

[Sonho]
That's right. As recently as yesterday afternoon, five people had not been identified, but a thorough DNA test confirmed the identification of one person last night and the rest of the victims early this morning. But so far, there are not so many bodies that have been handed over to the bereaved family. They also announced such stories on the spot.

Since the accident was so large and the damage was so terrible, it seems that it took some time to resolve it enough to be handed over to the bereaved family. And the person who received the body is now carrying out the funeral process or working to prepare the funeral process.

And it seems that the funeral process will continue in the future. In the case of Gwangju and Jeonnam local governments, we are making efforts to prepare more than 100 funeral halls in advance to help the bereaved families proceed with the funeral process.

[Anchor]
It's the fourth day of the disaster. So there are a lot of bereaved families staying at the airport after putting down all their livelihoods. So we also need support for them, so how is this part going?

[Sonho]
It's a very important part. The representative of the bereaved family said. He said he is continuing to increase support measures because there are so many bereaved families staying at the airport. In particular, there are elderly bereaved families. Because I have health concerns, I'm increasing fluid preparation and things like this. In addition, there is a trauma center to prepare for panic, and dedicated medical staff are also residing at the airport.

And in addition to that, there are bereaved families of office workers. The Ministry of Employment and Labor's policy has also been announced to actively support vacation because there are cases where you may not be able to use your vacation properly. In addition, the Ministry of Justice is also preparing for various legal support while operating an integrated support center. In addition, it is reported that Jeju Air is also providing emergency subsidies with various condolences to support the lives of the bereaved families.

[Anchor]
In the meantime, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a briefing and released the collected black box photos. The flight recorder eventually went to the United States because it was difficult to extract information in Korea.

[Anchor]
As a result, it seems that it is more likely to take longer to investigate the background. I'm connecting with a reporter to find out. Reporter Kim Ki-bong! Please tell us the breaking news related to the decoding of the flight recorder.

[Reporter]
Yes, the flight recorder, whose connection connector was lost among the two black boxes, eventually failed to extract information from the domestic accident investigation committee and went to the United States. The black box is going to Washington D.C. in the U.S. It's the NTSB of C's traffic safety committee, and specifically, when and how it will go has not been decided yet.

The flight recorder is a device that records all movements of the aircraft in the last 25 hours of the aircraft, and the connection connector is lost during the collision. In this regard, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said that the flight recorder is specially manufactured and requires sophisticated technology when rejoining the joint if it falls off, so it cannot buy new parts and use them.

If this happens, the time will be extended for a considerable period of time than deciphering in Korea. Fortunately, another device, the voice recording device, has finished extracting information and turning it into a voice file today, and the accident investigation committee predicts that it will take about two days to complete the work.

Once the voice file is completed, radio conversations between pilots and controllers, captains and bookkeepers, and pilots and flight attendants are expected to be secured for the final two hours until the moment of the accident. However, even if the contents are confirmed, it will not be easy to immediately announce them to the outside world, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.

[Anchor]
By the way, is there a new fact about the fact that the runway length of Muan Airport was operated shorter than usual at the time of the accident?

[Reporter]
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has reaffirmed the fact that only 2,500 meters of the original 2,800-meter runway were used at the time of the accident due to the construction of the Muan Airport runway expansion.

In the end, the distance that the aircraft glided into the fuselage after the final landing is also shorter than the original calculation. The point where the aircraft landed is not at the end of the runway, but if it is reduced by 300 meters from the total length, it is inferred that the runway distance is also shortened, causing the damage to be increased at a faster speed.

In addition, it was confirmed that the concrete mound of the local riser facility, which is blamed for increasing the damage to the accident, was higher than when it opened in 2007 with additional construction in 2022. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it worked to cover additional concrete tops, but the reason for the additional top plate construction has not yet been revealed.

Questions were also raised at a briefing this afternoon about whether the Muan Airport localizer installation regulations were illegal, but the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport declined to give a definite answer today, only explaining that it was looking at the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO and foreign cases.

However, they said they are currently investigating the material of navigation safety facilities installed at airports across the country. I'm Kim Ki Bong of YTN.

[Anchor]
As you've seen, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's briefing said that they eventually decided to send the flight recorder to the United States. But it's because of the loss of the connector, but it must be hard to do it in Korea, right?

[Hameungu]
That's right. Anyway, since it is a connector made in a special form by a black box manufacturing company, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport probably got it and reviewed it from various angles, but it seems that the part is not as easy as you think.

[Anchor]
What is the role of the connector?

[Hameungu]
Simply put, the connector is actually a connector that you plug into a smartphone. So, it would be good to understand it as a connection jack that connects to the black box body. It is known that the form is probably produced in a special form of individual companies.

[Anchor]
A lot of people take this as a simple connector. Then, you might think that you can use the connector applied to other aircraft in Korea.

[Hameungu]
If the point is accurately called lost, I think it's best to get a connector from a manufacturing company or something like this and connect it to extract data. However, if there is a problem with connectors, such as connector pins in the black box body, the restoration of that part cannot be handled simply by receiving and inserting connectors, so it seems that there have been various judgments on those parts.

[Anchor]
The decision was made in consideration of various factors, but there were also comments such as whether there was any concern that the data would be lost or damaged if they went to the United States.

[Hameungu]
Personally, as I said earlier, how to get the connector and extract data in Korea. This will be the fastest form to analyze in time. As you said, the NTSB of the United States, in Korea, is the Department of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the federal agency, about aviation. However, even though it is such a federal organization, it is a point of concern because I am a Korean.

[Anchor]
Among the contents included in the black box, data on the voice recording device has been extracted. So it takes about two days. If this voice conversion is completed, what content will be available?

[Hameungu]
What's in this voice recorder is a conversation between the pilot and the pilot, and it also includes a conversation between the pilot and the control tower. So there is also a story between the pilot and the flight attendant, centered on the pilot. So everything expressed in words in the aircraft is recorded, you can think of it as this.

[Anchor]
However, since the time from the landing attempt to the accident was so short, there are concerns about what meaningful conversations were made. How do you see this part?

[Hameungu]
As you just said, the pilots probably communicated information that actually appeared on some occasion, at least in terms of communication between the pilot and the control tower and the pilot. In that regard, it seems that you can grasp very meaningful information at the time.

[Anchor]
We'll have to wait and see what information comes out. Analysis of this cause is now being conducted from various angles. Overseas aviation safety experts are paying attention to azimuth facilities on the outskirts of the runway as the cause of the disaster. Let's listen to the related voices first.

[John Cox / Aviation Safety Consultant] If it hadn't hit a concrete hill, the plane would have stopped, and people would have been able to get off the plane. Why the hell was the concrete structure there? ]

[David Rearmount / Aviation Safety Specialist: The pilot's failure to unload the flap and landing gear for landing was not actually the cause of the passenger's death. Passengers were killed when they hit a hard structure. ]

[Anchor]
According to experts' opinions, everyone points out that the landing of the fuselage itself was not a major cause, but that it was a problem with the hit area, hillside, and concrete structure. What did you think, professor?

[Hameungu]
It presupposes that this part is consequential. In the end, at the time of the actual fuselage landing, and the situation of sliding down the runway, there was probably no particular damage, at least in that state. In the end, it seems that most of the casualties were caused by basic collisions and fire damage when colliding with this localizer facility called Dundeok, so as I said, it's very unfortunate that the Dundeok or localizer facility must have had some direct impact.

[Anchor]
I know that this localizer is everywhere in the world's airports, but was the localizer at Muan Airport different?

[Hameun-gu]
It could be a facility with a localizer in every airport. What this means is that it is a facility that requires a localizer to make an instrument landing. So, in the case of runway 19 at Muan Airport, a localizer is installed, so it is a facility that allows the instrument landing as mentioned above. In the case of other runways at Muan Airport, there are runways where local risers are not installed, so instrument landing is impossible.

So it must be a necessary facility like this. Although the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport continues to announce the installation, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's first position was that it could be exceptionally applied to various safety standards because it is installed outside the so-called longitudinal safety zone outside the runway.

However, according to the relevant airport installation standards of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, one of the provisions stipulates that the place where the localizer is installed should be viewed as a longitudinal safety zone. Then, if we follow the regulation that localizer facilities are included in the longitudinal safety zone among the mutually compatible regulations, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's position can be very difficult at the point where it is being discussed a lot.

[Anchor]
As the professor said now, the runway longitudinal safety zone should be extended in relation to Article 21 of the localizer installation standard. There's something like this. So, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is in a position that the regulations do not apply now because they are outside the safety zone. Looking at this clause, it can be a little controversial.

[Sonho]
That's right. Since the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has reserved a definite answer on this issue, it is difficult to grasp the final position of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport yet.I can already see that Ma is a very controversial matter. And because the localizer is outside the longitudinal safety zone, what it applies to is that it is necessary to create a structure made of material that does not cause damage to the aircraft, and it is believed that this regulation does not apply.

However, since concrete is a material that can cause damage to aircraft, there is something that can change the responsibility completely depending on whether the localizer was outside the longitudinal safety zone or not. However, if you look at the regulations that came out on the screen a little while ago, first of all, it is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport' It is based on the establishment of airports, airfield facilities, and take-off and landing sites. This is what Article 21 contains.

In other words, in the case of a precise access runway, it is said that the azimuth provision facility should extend the longitudinal safety zone until the point. Therefore, an interpretation of the specific scope of this longitudinal safety zone can be made. And there are similar things in other regulations. This is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's regularity.

This is a detailed guideline for the design of airport facilities. If you look at Article 18 here, there are similar regulations. Therefore, azimuth facilities are usually the first obstacle and are the case of instrument landing devices. It is said that the runway end safety zone should be extended to this time of year. That's why the longitudinal safety zone is actually far. Do you think this azimuth provision facility is included in the longitudinal safety zone? Or it seems that interpretation surrounding whether to look outward is needed.

[Anchor]
As the lawyer explained the regulations, a precision approach runway came out. Professor, what is this?

[Hameungu]
As I said, a precision approach runway is a runway that can eventually land an instrument based on a facility called a localizer. That's why Runway 19, where the accident occurred, is a runway with a localizer that can be used to capture the instrument. Through the localizer, it can be seen as a facility that precisely guides the center, center, or horizontal parts of the runway to instrument landing.

[Anchor]
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport claims that it is outside the longitudinal safety zone due to the issue of responsibility, but even if it is concluded that there is no problem with the regulations, the risk has been confirmed due to this accident. Then, there seems to be a need to improve, what do you think?

[Hameungu]
That's the point. So, the longitudinal safety zone itself is off the runway, so we set it as a buffer zone as a kind of safety zone with the landing of the fuselage where the disaster occurred in mind. However, in the longitudinal safety zone, as you said, it is brittle and the support is not more than 7.5cm in installing such a localizer, so that the height does not exceed. It's set up like this.

As you have said, I can't deny that these parts actually acted as a fatal risk to the aircraft's fuselage landing situation. Second, as I said, if there is such a conflict between the two provisions, the principle is to select the safest one. In particular, in the case of facilities such as airports, it is a general principle to borrow safer standards if there are conflicting provisions, so if you think about them based on principles, it seems that it was an inappropriate form of installation.

[Anchor]
Another thing confirmed at today's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport briefing was that the runway used at the time of the accident was originally 2,800 meters, but it was 2,500 meters at the time due to construction.

[Hameungu]
There is a difference of about 300m in those parts. So in the end, it seems that those things acted as more dangerous conditions in the event of a fuselage landing or emergency.

[Anchor]
There was also a saying that the runway of this Muan Airport was shorter than other domestic airports, so the extension work was underway.

[Sonho]
That's right. Construction is underway to extend it to 3160m and it is scheduled to be completed in 2025, but the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said there is no problem because the aircraft suitable for the runway was operated. And as shown on the screen, it is hard to say that the runway length of Muan Airport itself is too short or that it is the shortest in Korea.

Therefore, if the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is correct that there was no legal problem and there was no problem with safe operation at the time, I think it is possible to exclude at least a little more parts that are responsible for that.

[Anchor]
The structure of the airport is also a structure, but why was the pilot forced to decide to land the fuselage in the first place, and it should be solved. The landing gear and flap didn't work properly during the second landing. Can you guess what the situation was at the time when you look at this?

[Hameungu]
It's a very cautious estimate. In fact, in the process of performing the process of performing the first landing, the power of the plane was temporarily cut off due to a short period of communication with the control tower. And one of the reasons for this power cutoff was that not only the first known right engine but also the left engine was seriously damaged.

So, in the case of this model, when both engines operate abnormally, basic electrical output and such things are very difficult. So, I'm very careful, but I think that the so-called shutdown phenomenon occurred due to the overall decrease in the output of the engine.

[Anchor]
The day after the accident, the same model returned due to a landing gear problem. So, is this a problem with the model itself or is it a problem that neglected maintenance? What should I think?

[Hameungu]
As you mentioned in the case of the accident model, when the engine's output decreases, the landing gear is basically a device that puts oil, which is called hydraulic pressure, and literally works with fluid pressure. In the end, electrical force must be applied to this hydraulic pressure. However, when a problem occurs on the engine side in these areas, electrical force cannot be applied. So, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said at first that it would not affect it because it was composed in parallel at all, but in the current situation, there seems to be a very close relationship between this engine and the landing gear, so this part needs to be examined more precisely.

[Anchor]
Let's hear from the professor about the Jeju Air accident today and continue with the news of lawyer Sohn Soo-ho and President Yoon's arrest warrant. Ham Eun-gu District's safety engineering professor will end here. Thank you for talking today.