Flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the South Korean passenger plane that crashed last month stopped recording four minutes before the disaster, the country’s transport ministry has said.
The crash of the Jeju Air flight killed 179 people, making it the deadliest air accident on Korean soil.
Investigators had hoped that data on the recorders would provide insights about the crucial moments before the tragedy.
The recorders were originally examined in South Korea, the ministry said.
When the data was found to be missing, they were taken to the US and analysed by American safety regulators.
According to the country’s transport ministry, the flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the South Korean passenger plane that crashed last month ceased recording four minutes prior to the incident.
The Jeju Air flight crash was the deadliest air accident to ever occur in Korea, with 179 fatalities. Only two members of the cabin crew survived.
Researchers had hoped that information from the recorders would shed light on the pivotal moments leading up to the tragedy.
The ministry promised to investigate the reason behind the “black boxes” ceasing to record.
The ministry stated that the recorders were initially inspected in South Korea.
American safety regulators analyzed the missing data after it was discovered.
When the plane crashed at Muan International Airport on December 29, it was on its way from Bangkok. It slid into a wall off the end of the runway and caught fire.
According to Sim Jai-dong, a former transport ministry accident investigator, all power, including backup, could have been turned off. He told the Reuters news agency that the loss of data from the critical last minutes was unexpected.
There are still many unresolved questions. Researchers have been examining the potential contributions of weather or a bird strike.
The reason the Boeing 737-800 did not have its landing gear down when it struck the runway has also been their main focus.
