Final minutes of Jeju Air flight before South Korea's deadliest air disaster

South Korea is investigating the crash of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 jet on December 29 at Muan International Airport that killed 179 people, in the deadliest air disaster on the country's soil. The following are the final minutes of Flight 7C2216 gathered from a preliminary investigation report in January, South Korea's transport ministry and fire authorities, and a July 19 update from investigators seen by Reuters.


All times are Korea Standard Time (GMT+9).


8:54:43 a.m. - Jeju Air 7C2216 contacts Muan airport air traffic control as it makes the final approach and is given clearance to land on runway 01, which is orientated at 10 degrees north-east.

8:57:50 a.m. - Air traffic control gives "caution - bird activity" advisory.

8:58:11 a.m. - Jeju Air pilots are heard talking about spotting a flock of birds under the aircraft.

8:58:26 a.m. - The aircraft aborts the landing attempt and then strikes birds while starting to circle back for another landing attempt known as a go-around. Both engines continued to operate with vibrations. The right engine also experienced a surge, emitting large flames and thick black smoke.

8:58:45 a.m. - Pilots stop the left engine while performing emergency procedures. The July 19 update said the evidence for this came from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), flight data recorder (FDR) and inspection of the engines.

8:58:50 a.m. - The aircraft's FDR and CVR stop recording. At the moment both "black boxes" stop recording, the aircraft is flying at the speed of 161 knots (298 kph or 185 mph) at an altitude of 498 ft (152 m).

8:58:56 a.m. - Flight 7C2216 pilot makes emergency Mayday declaration related to a bird strike during the go-around.

9:00 a.m. - During the go-around, Flight 7C2216 requests clearance to land on runway 19, which is by approach from the opposite end of the airport's single runway.

9:01 a.m. - Air traffic control authorises landing on runway 19.

9:02 a.m. - Flight 7C2216 makes contact with runway at about the 1,200 m (3,937 ft) point of the 2,800 m (9,186 ft) runway. Landing gear was not lowered and the plane lands on its belly.

9:02:34 a.m. - Air traffic control alerts "crash bell" at airport fire rescue unit.

9:02:55 a.m. - Airport fire rescue unit completes deploying fire rescue equipment.

9:02:57 a.m. - Flight 7C2216 crashes into embankment after over-shooting the runway.

9:10 a.m. - The Transport Ministry receives an accident report from airport authorities.

9:23 a.m. - One male rescued and transported to a temporary medical facility.

9:38 a.m. - Muan Airport is closed.

9:50 a.m. - Rescue completed of a second person from inside tail section of the plane. (Reporting by Jihoon Lee, Hyunjoo Jin, Ju-min Park, Hyonhee Shin and Lisa Barrington; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Stephen Coates and Jamie Freed)