SEOUL – The two black boxes from the Boeing aircraft involved in South Korea’s deadliest aviation incident ceased recording approximately four minutes prior to the crash, as reported by the transport ministry on Saturday.

Investigators in South Korea previously indicated that the flight data and cockpit voice recorders are crucial for understanding the cause of the crash that occurred last month, resulting in 179 fatalities.

The incident followed the pilot’s report of a bird strike just four minutes before the accident took place.

Authorities are set to examine why the black boxes stopped recording, according to the ministry’s statement.

Initially, the voice recorder was reviewed in South Korea, but when missing data was identified, it was sent to a U.S. National Transportation Safety Board laboratory for further analysis, the ministry explained.

Black box recorders gather vital information on pilot communications within the cockpit as well as the aircraft’s performance during flight.

Flight Jeju Air 7C2216, which flew from Bangkok, Thailand, to Muan in southeastern South Korea, experienced a belly landing and overshot the runway on December 29, ultimately igniting after colliding with an embankment. Only two survivors emerged from the incident—crew members seated in the tail section of the plane.

Just two minutes prior to the pilots issuing a Mayday call, air traffic control warned of “bird activity.”

Sim Jai-dong, a former accident investigator for the transport ministry, expressed surprise at the revelation of missing data from the Boeing 737-800’s final moments, suggesting that all forms of power, even backup systems, may have been disrupted, which is unusual.

The transport ministry confirmed that other available data would contribute to the investigation and emphasized its commitment to maintaining transparency and sharing information with the victims’ families.

Some family members of the victims have expressed concerns, arguing that the transport ministry should not lead the investigation and called for the involvement of independent experts, including those suggested by the families.

Attention has also turned to the embankment that the plane struck, focusing on why it was constructed with such hard material and why it was situated so close to the runway’s end, as it was intended to support a “localiser” system that assists with aircraft landings.