The Korean government dispatched a group of inspectors to Japan on Wednesday to find the exact cause of the accident involving an Asiana Airlines plane which overran a runway while landing at Hiroshima Airport.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the inspection team would examine the plane’s black box and other records.

“It is too early to determine the exact cause of accident. Korean ministry officials will join the investigation team in Japan to find out,” a ministry official said.

According to Japan’s transport ministry, the tail of the Airbus A320 struck a 6.4-meter-tall facility, which was about 300 meters away from the runway on Tuesday evening. Then, it veered off the runway, causing the landing gear to collapse and leaving both wings and the left engine damaged.

The Japanese government’s investigation is reportedly focusing on the reason why the pilot lowered the altitude aberrantly.

Of the 73 passengers on board the flight which departed from Incheon International Airport, 18 including 14 Japanese and two each from Korea and China, had minor injuries, according to Asiana Airlines.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s Transport Ministry held a special meeting with eight local airlines to urge them to enhance their safety inspections and awareness to help prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.

It also plans to carry out an emergency inspection on Asiana’s A320-series pilots on the back of a series of recent accidents involving the aircraft, including Germanwings and AirAsia crashes.

Earlier in the day, Asiana Airlines apologized to passengers and pledged to actively cooperate with all related institutions in the ongoing investigation.

“We at Asiana Airlines would like to offer our apologies for the distress experienced by passengers,” the company said in a press release.

The revenue from Japanese routes accounted for 13 percent of the airline’s total sales revenue during the fourth quarter of 2014.

Shares of Asiana fell as much as 4.29 percent Wednesday, to 8,470 won ($7.72) after the accident.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)