South Korea air crash investigators extract black box data as grieving families mourn the victims

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Grieving relatives of the victims of the South Korea plane crash gathered at the site to pay respects to their loved ones on New Year’s Day, as officials said they've extracted data from one of the retrieved black boxes to find the exact cause of the crash.

All but two of the 181 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air died when it crashed at Muan International Airport, in southern South Korea, on Sunday.

Video showed the aircraft without its landing gear deployed landing on its belly at high speed and then skidding off the end of the runaway into a concrete fence and bursting into flames. The footage showed the plane was experiencing an apparent engine problem in addition to the landing gear malfunction.

Investigators say the pilot received a warning from air traffic controllers of possible bird strikes and the plane issued a distress signal before the crash.

The Transport Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that it has completed works to extract data from the cockpit voice recorder — one of the two black boxes recovered from the wreckage. It said the data would be converted into audio files. A damaged flight data recorder will be sent to the United States for an analysis, the ministry added.

All of the victims were South Korean, except for two Thais nationals, with many returning from Bangkok after Christmas holidays.

The bereaved families visited the site on Wednesday for the first time since the crash for an emotional memorial service. They were bused to the site where they took turns laying white flowers. Many knelt and bowed deeply before a memorial table laid with food, including “ddeokguk,” a Korean rice cake soup eaten on New Year's Day.

The Transport Ministry said authorities have completed the complicated process of identifying all 179 victims. It said the government has so far handed over 11 bodies to relatives.

The country is observing seven days of national mourning following the deadliest disaster in South Korea’s aviation history in decades.

The government has begun safety inspections of all 101 Boeing 737-800s operated by the country's domestic airlines. On Tuesday, a team of U.S. investigators, including representatives from Boeing, examined the crash site.

Officials have said they will consider whether the airport’s localizer — a set of antennas housed in a concrete fence at the end of the runway designed to guide aircraft during landings — should have been constructed with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.

The first sunrise on New Year's day is seen near the site of a plane crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Son Hyung-ju/Yonhap via AP)

Buses carrying relatives of passengers on a plane which skidded off a runway and burst into flames, are seen near the site of a plane crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Kim Sun-woong/Newsis via AP)

Relatives of passengers on a plane which skidded off a runway and burst into flames, are seen near the site of a plane crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Lee Jin-wook/Yonhap via AP)

FILE - Relatives of passengers on a plane which skidded off a runway and burst into flames, react at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, FILE)

Mourners wait to pay tribute to the victims of a plane fire at a memorial altar at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Kim Sun-woong/Newsis via AP)

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 3, 2025--

Parade, the premium legacy entertainment and lifestyle brand, released its latest cover story, featuring an exclusive interview with comedian, podcaster and author Chelsea Handler.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250103130226/en/

In this candid interview, Handler addresses her feelings about aging as she approaches turning 50 this year, her relationship with fellow comedian Jo Koy and coming to grips with anxiety and the death of her older brother, Chet, when she was age 9.

Her upcoming collection of essays, I’ll Have What She’s Having –her seventh book since 2005’s My Horizontal Life –is due out on her birthday, February 25.

Read the full interview here. Video link here. Notable quotes are below.

On her breakup with Jo Koy:

“It's not nice to him to give away the details. I loved him at one point in my life, and I don't want to hurt him. And also, I'm at a different place in my life where I don't have to give away the dish. My breakup with Jo Koy was the first mature ending to a relationship that I was in. My behavior was mature and graceful. I honored the relationship by never actually divulging what happened, and I liked that version of myself.”

“I've ended so many relationships where I lacked dignity and I lacked grace, and I was immature and vindictive. And I don't want to be that way. I want to be better than that. I'm a woman now, I'm not a little girl.”

“I haven't spoken to him. I don't think I've spoken to Jo Koy since we broke up. No, I haven’t.”

On taking a swipe at Jo Koy at Critics’ Choice Awards:

“Listen, I would've done that had anybody thrown their writers under a bus. I know more than anybody how valuable writers are. My whole life and my whole career is because I have great writers.”

On getting reprimanded by Jane Fonda at a party:

“I went to the bathroom mirror at her house and looked at myself, and I was like, ‘O.K, you have two choices in how you're going to handle this. You could be defensive, and that just means she's right. Or you can take it in and realize that she did not have to sit down and take the time to tell you this.’ She could have just avoided me for the rest of our lives and never hung out with me again and just been like, ‘O.K, Chelsea's badly behaved, I don't want anything to do with her.’ But she set an example for me that day. That was an act of love.”

On brother Chet’s death:

“[That] was a huge thing that I didn't ever want to talk about or acknowledge until I was 40. And that coincided with [Donald] Trump being elected for the first time. That coincided with my new talk show on Netflix. It was a perfect storm of instability, and I had never felt unstable before in my life, in that way.”

On her upcoming 50th birthday (February 25, 2025):

“I am pretty into myself right now. It is true as you age, you become more confident, and I had a lot of confidence to begin with. …But as far as being sexy, you free up as a woman. There is a sexual awakening that happens, where you do not give a sh-- about how you look or how you are being seen or the cellulite you have on the backs of your legs. You don't care about any of that because you are into feeling good and having great sexual experiences.”

On her mother’s death at age 66:

“She just never had this kind of freedom that I have. She had six children and she had my dad, and she was very dependent on him, which was one of the models that I looked at growing up that made me think, ‘I don't want that. I don't want anyone to make my decisions for me, financial or otherwise.' I wanted to be a free spirit. And I wanted to have my own ideas.”

On dating:

“I've got lots of little things going on, so hopefully none of them see this!”

To read this story, or any of previous Parade cover stories, click here.

About Parade

Parade, the premium legacy entertainment and lifestyle brand, has been enlightening, delighting and inspiring audiences for more than 80 years. Parade is owned and operated by The Arena Group (NYSE American: AREN), an innovative technology platform and media company with a proven cutting-edge playbook that transforms media brands. Arena’s unified technology platform empowers creators and publishers with tools to publish and monetize their content, while also leveraging quality journalism of anchor brands like TheStreet, Parade, Men’s Journal and Athlon Sports to build their businesses. The company aggregates content across a diverse portfolio of brands, reaching over 100 million users monthly. Visit us at thearenagroup.net and discover how we are revolutionizing the world of digital media.

As Chelsea Handler approaches her 50th birthday, the outspoken comedian talks personal growth, feeling sexy and where she stands with ex Jo Koy. (Photo: Business Wire)