One of the pilots aboard the Asiana Airlines cargo plane that went down last week in the South China Sea had taken out seven life insurance policies totaling $2.84 million just a month before.

According to BNO News in Seoul, South Korea's Transport Ministry originally thought the crash was caused by an in-flight cargo fire, but that information was based on an exchange with air traffic control from the pilot.

As the search for the flight recorder continues, authorities are now investigating the possibility that the crash was a suicide.

Pilot caused crashes are not unheard of.

There have been several instances of major aviation accidents involving pilot suicide in the past. In October 1999, a total of 217 people were killed when the Relief First Officer aboard EgyptAir Flight 990 deliberately caused the Boeing 767-366ER to crash into the Atlantic Ocean, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.

And in December 1997, 104 people were killed when SilkAir Flight 185 crashed into the Musi River near Palembang, Indonesia. Although Indonesian authorities were unable to determine a cause, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined one of the pilots deliberately caused the Boeing 737-36N aircraft to crash.

The NTSB is working with South Korean agencies to investigate the incident.