Both engines of a plane that crashed in South Korea in late December, killing 179 people, show traces of a bird strike, according to a preliminary investigation report released on Monday.

South Korean investigators said feathers and bloodstains belonging to the Baikal teal species were found on the engines. The migratory duck is mainly found in Siberia but overwinters in East Asia.

The pilots had reported a bird strike shortly before the crash landing at Muan International Airport in Jeolla province, about 288 kilometres south-west of Seoul.

The preliminary report said that both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder stopped recording about four minutes before the fatal impact. The exact reason for this was not yet known.

In December, the Boeing 737-800 skidded along a runway, smashed into a concrete wall and caught fire.

It was carrying 181 people, 179 of whom were killed. The two survivors were both crew members. Apart from two Thai nationals, all aboard were Korean citizens.

Investigators said that in the next phase of the investigation, the plane’s engines will be dismantled, and the individual components will be thoroughly examined. 

(dpa/NAN)