Firefighters take a look at the wreckage of the aircraft that crashed after it went off the runway, at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 31, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS)

All 175 passengers and four of the six crew members were killed when the Boeing 737-800 belly-landed, skidded off the runway at Muan International Airport on Sunday, and crashed into an embankment, causing a fireball.

Comments in the airport's operating manual, uploaded early in 2024, said the embankment was too close to the end of the runway and recommended that the location of the equipment be reviewed during a planned expansion.

A "black box" flight data recorder recovered from the crash site was missing a key connector and authorities were reviewing how to extract its data, but retrieval of data from the cockpit voice recorder has begun, the transport ministry told briefings.

Inspections of all B737-800s operated by South Korean airlines were set to wrap up by Friday. Personnel from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration, and aircraft maker Boeing have joined the investigations.