South Korean investigators extract black box data from Jeju Air plane crash
South Korean investigators have retrieved black box data from a plane which crashed on Sunday, killing 179 people.
Footage of the crash showed the Boeing 737-800 skidding along the runway at Muan International Airport, with its landing gear apparently malfunctioning, before hitting a concrete wall and bursting into flames.
The South Korean Transport Ministry said on Wednesday that it had extracted data from the cockpit voice recorder, one of two black boxes recovered from the wreckage.
It added that the data will be converted into audio files, while a damaged flight data recorder will be sent to the United States for analysis.
Families of the victims visited the crash site for the first time on Wednesday, laying white flowers in tribute.
On Tuesday, a team of US investigators, including Boeing representatives, inspected the crash site. The results of their examination have not yet been released.
Investigators believe air traffic controllers warned the pilot about possible bird strikes and that the plane sent a distress signal before the crash.
Only two of the 181 people on board survived. Both were Thai crew members, rescued from the plane’s tail section - the only part still recognisable after the crash.
South Korean authorities have identified all 179 victims, with 11 bodies returned to their families so far.
The government has also started safety inspections of all 101 Boeing 737-800s operated by domestic airlines.
The country is observing seven days of national mourning following the deadliest aviation disaster in South Korea since 1997, when a Korean Airlines plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board.
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