The data was obtained from the first black box, the ministry reports

South Korea’s transport ministry said investigators have finished extracting data from one of the black boxes of the Jeju Air plane that crashed on Sunday.

Data from the cockpit voice recorder will now be converted to an audio file, although authorities said it would take longer to access the data in the second black box, the flight data recorder, which is missing a critical component.

Investigators hope that flight data and voice recorders will provide insight into the crucial moments that led to the tragedy.

About 179 people died after the plane crashed into the structure and exploded in what was the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil.

Deputy Civil Aviation Minister Joo Chong-wan said investigators are now discussing the best way to decode the flight data recorder, which is currently missing a critical connector.

US National Transportation Safety Board officials have been dispatched to Muang to join the investigation into the Jeju Air crash.

The Boeing 737-800 was flying from Bangkok when it made an emergency landing at Muang International Airport on Sunday and slid into a wall at the end of the runway, bursting into flames and killing all but two crew members on board.

Many questions remain unanswered, and investigators are looking into the role of bird collisions or weather conditions.

Passengers on flight 7C2216 ranged in age from three to 78, although most were in their 40s, 50s and 60s, Yonhap news agency reported. Authorities said two Thai nationals were among the dead, while the rest were believed to be from South Korea.

It took days for authorities to identify the bodies by fingerprints or DNA – with saliva samples from family members – as many were badly mutilated.

But on Wednesday, Acting President Choi Sang-mok announced that all 179 victims on board the flight had now been identified.

New Year’s celebrations across the country were canceled or shortened out of respect for the victims and their families, and authorities declared seven days of national mourning.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae said the airline is preparing emergency compensation for the victims’ families and will cover funeral expenses.

He also said that a pre-flight inspection of the plane did not reveal any problems. The investigation into the causes of the accident is still ongoing.