(MENAFN- Live Mint) Key data is reportedly missing from the black boxes of the Jeju Air jet that crashed on the runway of a South Korean airport last month. The Korean transport ministry said on Saturday the flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Boeing 737-800 jet that crashed on December 29 stopped recording about four minutes before the airliner hit a concrete structure at South Korea's Muan airport.

The voice recorder was initially analysed in South Korea , and, when data was found to be missing, sent to a US National Transportation Safety Board laboratory, the ministry was quoted by Reuters as saying. The damaged flight data recorder was taken to the United States for analysis in cooperation with the US safety regulator, the ministry said.

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The flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Jeju Air jet that crashed on December 29 stopped recording about four minutes before the airliner hit a concrete structure at South Korea's Muan airport, the transport ministry said on Saturday.

All but two people survived the crash. Jeju Air 7C2216, which departed the Thai capital Bangkok for Muan in southwestern South Korea, belly-landed and overshot the regional airport's runway, exploding into flames after hitting an embankment.

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Authorities are still struggling to find out the cause of the country's deadliest aviation disaster that killed 179 out of 181 on board. A joint investigation team comprising Korean and US officials is trying to determine what caused the devices to stop working, the South Korea ministry's statement read as per Bloomberg.

The Jeju Air Co. jet heading from Bangkok to Muan International Airport in South Korea was attempting an emergency landing on December 29 when it skidded on its belly off the runway and exploded after hitting the structure.

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The incident occurred a few minutes after the airport control tower had warned the pilot of the risk of bird strikes.

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