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South Korea extends shutdown of Muan airport due to crash probe

South Korea's federal government said on Monday it will extend the shutdown of Muan International Airport by a week to Jan. 14, citing the continuous examination into the crash of a Jeju Air jet that killed 179 guests on board.

The airport had actually been due to resume on Tuesday following the Dec. 29 crash.

A joint investigation group is stepping up the probe into South Korea's most dangerous air mishap. Two of the Korean investigators on Monday are set to leave for the United States with flight data recorders for analysis with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

The flight information recorders, in addition to cockpit voice recorders, are the two black boxes that contain essential details about the crash.

Detectives on Saturday put together the complete records from the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the wreckage of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800. It is not clear whether they will disclose the transcript.

Investigators retrieved two of the airplane's engines over the weekend, as an agent from engine maker GE

signed up with

the probe. The transportation ministry

extended

to Jan. 10 its examinations of all the Boeing 737-800 aircrafts operated by Jeju Air and 5 other airline companies in the nation, including their maintenance records.

(source: Reuters)