Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea: Bodies of all 179 victims found

The South Korean Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on January 4 that authorities had found the bodies of all 179 people killed in the Jeju Air plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province on December 29, 2024.

According to the ministry, 103 bodies have been returned to their families, the rest are being kept in the morgue.

On the same day, South Korean investigators said they were about to complete the extraction of the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the wreckage of the ill-fated Jeju Air Boeing 737-800.

The extraction of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) is expected to be completed by January 4, while the flight data recorder (FDR) is being prepared to be shipped to the US for analysis, according to the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Black boxes recovered from the plane are believed to hold clues about the final moments of the Boeing 737-800, which was carrying 181 passengers and crew, from Thailand to South Korea on December 29, 2024.

The plane failed to deploy its landing gear, had to land on its belly, slid down the runway, then crashed into the concrete wall at the end of the runway and exploded.

South Korean and US investigators, including aircraft manufacturer Boeing, have examined the scene to determine the cause of the crash.

In addition to the two black boxes, investigators also recovered the plane's engine from the crash scene./.

VNA