At 8.58.11am, the pilots discussed birds flying under the Boeing 737-800, then declared mayday at 8.58.56am, reporting a bird strike while the plane was on a go-around, the statement said.
Airport CCTV footage also showed the plane making “contact” with birds during the go-around, it said.
Previously the ministry had said the pilots issued the distress signal due to bird strikes before going around.
The jet crashed at 9.02.57am, slamming into an embankment and bursting into flames that killed everyone aboard except for two crew members in the tail section.
The surveillance footage was taken from too far away to see if there was a spark from the bird strike but it “confirmed the plane making contact with birds, though the exact time is unclear”, a ministry official told Reuters.
Duck feathers and blood were found in both of the plane’s GE Aerospace engines, the ministry said.
The ministry said it would conduct a separate analysis of the role of the concrete embankment that supported navigation antennas called “localisers”.
The ministry said on Wednesday that it would remove the embankment, which experts said likely made the disaster more deadly.
Source: CNA
