At the time of the accident, the construction road was short...Localizer Concrete Reinforcement

[Anchor]
It has been confirmed that the runway of Muan Airport was shorter than the original length due to construction during the Jeju Air flight disaster.

It was also confirmed that the localizer concrete that increased the damage was additionally reinforced two years ago, and we will connect with the reporter to find out more. Reporter Kim Ki-bong!

What does it mean that the runway was short at the time of the accident?

[Reporter]
Yes, this was confirmed at a briefing by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport this morning, and the Muan Airport runway construction caused the original 2,800-meter-long runway to be used only 2,500 meters at the time of the accident, the ministry said.

In this way, the distance between the aircraft's final landing and sliding into the fuselage will also be shorter than the original calculation.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it made the final landing at one-third of the runway in the early stages of the accident, and it is inferred that a reduction of 300 meters from the total length also shortens the runway distance, resulting in a greater final impact.

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 in the form of additional covering of concrete tops, and said it would check and answer why they did this.

Regarding the violation of the Muan Airport localizer installation regulations, he explained that he was still looking at international civil aviation organizations, ICAO, and foreign cases, avoiding a definite answer today.

However, they said they are currently investigating the material of navigation safety facilities installed at airports across the country.

[Anchor]
And I'm also curious about the progress of the black box investigation that will reveal the details of the accident, so how is it going?

[Reporter]
Yes, the investigation of the voice recording device in good condition among the two black boxes is progressing relatively smoothly.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it has completed the work of extracting information from voice recorders and will start making it into a voice file sometime today.

Therefore, radio conversations between pilots and controllers, captains and bookkeepers, and pilots and crew members are expected to be secured in the final two hours until the moment of the accident.

In particular, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport confirmed that there was some kind of communication even after 9:01 when it was recognized as the last communication on the day of the accident, and the contents of the communication just before the accident are also expected to be confirmed by voice record.

However, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said that the flight recorder, which lost its connection connector, is still considering whether it can extract information.

When asked if it was okay to connect the same type of new connector, he answered that it is a special fabrication, so if the joint falls off, sophisticated technology is needed when rejoining, so new parts cannot be bought and inserted.

Therefore, if the flight recorder fails to extract information, the black box will have to be sent to the United States, which could take more time to find out.

In the meantime, two more Boeing experts have joined the team, which has 10 U.S. investigators and 11 Korean investigators, and today we are focusing on collecting evidence of site preservation, bird collision evidence, and final landing and explosion of the aircraft.

I'm Kim Ki Bong of YTN.