Data extracted from first black box, says ministry

Investigators have finished extracting information from the black box of the Jeju Air plane that crashed on Sunday, South Korea’s transport ministry said.

The data from the cockpit voice recorder will now be converted into an audio file, although authorities said it will take more time to find the contents of the second black box – the plane’s data recorder – which is missing a key part.

Investigators hope the flight data and audio recorders will provide insight into the critical moments leading up to the crash.

At least 179 people died when the plane hit a runway and exploded – making it the world’s deadliest plane crash in South Korea.

Vice Minister of Civil Aviation Joo Jong-wan said researchers are now discussing the best way to detect the flight recorder, which is currently missing a key link.

Officials from the US National Transportation Safety Board have been sent to Muan to investigate the Jeju Air crash.

The Boeing 737-800 was en route from Bangkok when it crashed at Muan International Airport on Sunday and crashed into a wall at the end of the runway, burning and killing everyone on board except two crew members.

Many questions remain unanswered and researchers are looking at what role the bird played or what the weather has been doing.

Passengers on flight 7C2216 were aged between three and 78, although most were in their 40s, 50s and 60s, according to the Yonhap news agency. Two Thai nationals are among the dead and the rest are believed to be South Koreans, officials said.

It took several days to identify the bodies through fingerprints or DNA – and saliva samples taken from relatives – because many of them were badly decomposed.

But on Wednesday, President Choi Sang-mok announced that all 179 people on board the plane had been identified.

New Year’s Day celebrations across the country have been canceled or scaled back out of respect for the victims and their families, and authorities have announced seven days of mourning.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae said the airline is preparing emergency compensation for the families of the victims and will pay funeral expenses.

He added that the pre-flight check-in was “no problem”. The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.