Black box data recovered in search for cause of crash that killed 179 in South Korea

Investigators in South Korea have extracted data from one of two black boxes retrieved from a Jeju Air plane that crashed shortly after landing on Sunday, killing all but two of the 181 people onboard.

- Justin McCurry

The country's deputy minister for civil aviation, Joo Jong-wan, said initial data had been retrieved from the Boeing 737-800's cockpit voice recorder and that the contents were being converted into audio format.

South Korea's transport ministry said yesterday that it would send the plane's other black box, the flight data recorder, to the US for analysis.

Authorities in South Korea and the US are hoping the devices will provide crucial clues about events leading up to the pilot's attempt to land after the aircraft's landing gear apparently failed to deploy.

"The damaged flight data recorder has been deemed unrecoverable for data extraction domestically," Joo said. "It was agreed today to transport it to the United States for analysis in collaboration with the US National Transportation Safety Board."

The plane, on a return flight from Thailand, was carrying 175 passengers and six crew when the cockpit issued a mayday call and made a belly landing on the runway at Muan international airport.