Black boxes of South Korean plane stopped recording before crash

South Korean officials on Saturday said black boxes of a jet that crashed last month at the Muan International Airport stopped recordings before the crash as data of final four minutes before the explosion is missing, Yonhap news reported.

An analysis by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the Jeju Air passenger plane showed that recordings stopped on both devices approximately four minutes before the aircraft collided with a localizer structure.

The explosion occurred at 9.03 a.m. on Dec. 29, when the flight struck a concrete mound housing localizer equipment after skidding without its landing gear open.

The FDR and CVR ceased recording data starting at 8.59 a.m.

"The investigation involves analyzing various sources of information, including air traffic control records, video footage of the crash and debris from the site," the investigators said.

The black box components were sent to the NTSB in Washington last week for cross-verification to ensure data reliability.

South Korean investigators dispatched to the NTSB are set to return home next week to continue their probe.

The Jeju Air flight crashed during landing on Dec. 29, killing 179 people aboard. Only two flight attendants were rescued alive from the tail end of the plane.

A transport ministry official has verified that a bird strike had taken place before the plane crash.