S Korea says initial data extracted from Jeju Air crash black box voice recorder

• US, S Korean investigators comb over crash site since disaster took place.
• Both of plane's black boxes were retrieved, says civil aviation deputy minister.
• Minister discloses second black box "was found with missing connector".

SEOUL: Investigators probing a Jeju Air crash which killed 179 people in the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil have extracted the initial data from one of the Boeing 737-800's black boxes, an official said Wednesday.

The plane was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed before hitting a barrier and bursting into flames, killing everyone aboard except two flight attendants pulled from the burning wreckage.

South Korean and US investigators, including from Boeing, have been combing over the crash site in southwestern Muan since the disaster Sunday.

Both of the plane's black boxes were retrieved, and for the cockpit voice recorder, "the initial extraction has already been completed," said deputy minister for civil aviation Joo Jong-wan.

"Based on this preliminary data, we plan to start converting it into audio format," he said, meaning investigators would be able to hear the pilots' final communications.

The second black box, the flight data recorder, "was found with a missing connector," Joo said.

"Experts are currently conducting a final review to determine how to extract data from it."

Officials initially pointed to a bird strike as a possible cause of the disaster, but they have since said the probe was also examining a concrete barrier at the end of the runway, which dramatic video showed the Boeing 737-800 colliding with before bursting into flames.

There have also been questions over possible mechanical failures, with local media reporting that the landing gear had deployed properly on Jeju Air Flight 2216's first failed landing attempt at Muan airport before failing on the second.

The issue "will likely be examined by the Accident Investigation Board through a comprehensive review of various testimonies and evidence during the investigation process," the ministry of land, which oversees civil aviation, said at a briefing.

All victims identified

At Muan airport, grieving families of victims had become increasingly frustrated by delays in identifying and releasing the bodies.

Officials have said the bodies were extensively damaged by the crash, making the work of identifying remains slow and immensely difficult, even as investigators had to preserve crash-site evidence.

But the country's acting president said Wednesday the process had finally been completed, and that more bodies had been handed over to relatives so that they could hold funerals.

"Overnight, the identification of all 179 victims was completed," said acting president Choi Sang-mok, who has been in office less than a week.

"Our investigators, along with the US National Transportation Safety Board and the manufacturer, are conducting a joint investigation into the cause of the accident," Choi said at a disaster response meeting Wednesday.