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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.<\/p>\n
The crash of the Jeju Air flight killed 179 people, making it the deadliest air accident on Korean soil. Two cabin crew members were the only survivors. <\/p>\n
Investigators had hoped that data on the recorders would provide insights about the crucial moments before the tragedy.<\/p>\n
The ministry said it would analyse what caused the “black boxes” to stop recording.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The recorders were originally examined in South Korea, the ministry said.<\/p>\n
When the data was found to be missing, they were taken to the US and analysed by American safety regulators.<\/p>\n
The plane was travelling from Bangkok on 29 December when it crash-landed at Muan International Airport and slid into a wall off the end of the runway, bursting into flames.<\/p>\n
Sim Jai-dong, a former transport ministry accident investigator, told Reuters news agency that the loss of data from the crucial final minutes was surprising and suggested that all power, including back-up, could have been cut.<\/p>\n
Many questions remain unanswered. Investigators have been looking at the role that a bird strike<\/a> or weather conditions may have played.<\/p>\n They have also focused on why the Boeing 737-800 did not have its landing gear down when it hit the runway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n