South Korea’s leading low-cost carrier, heavy with debt and its stock already near record lows, is now facing intense public and government scrutiny.

Before it suffered the deadliest crash in South Korea's history, budget airline Jeju Air was moving fast: racking up record passenger numbers and flying its aircraft more than domestic rivals and many of its global peers,

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Jeju Air jet that crashed on Dec. 29 stopped recording four minutes before the airliner hit a concrete structure at South Korea's Muan airport, the transport ministry said on Saturday.