The flight data recorder for the ill-fated Jeju Air flight 2216, which crashed and killed 179 people on Sunday, is is expected to be sent to the Washington  headquarters of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board on Monday.

According to Joo Jong-wan, head of aviation policy at Seoul's transport ministry, investigators haven’t been able to retrieve data from the device domestically due to the loss of a key connector, and had previously agreed to have it analyzed in the U.S.

Data from the cockpit voice recorder, meanwhile, have been converted to audio files to begin transcription.

Meanwhile, a representative from an American manufacturer of the engine from the Jeju Air plane that crashed at Muan International Airport joined the combined investigation team between South Korea and the United States.

Joo said the representative from GE Aerospace headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio joined the team on Friday.

CFM International, the aircraft engine manufacturer that produced the engine loaded on the B737-800 model, is a joint venture between GE Aerospace and the French company Safran Aircraft Engines.

The 23-member team also comprises officials from the transport ministry, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the NTSB and Boeing.