According to local media, an inquiry into South Korea’s deadliest flight catastrophe revealed that a pilot cut off the wrong engine by mistake. All but two of the 181 people on board Jeju Air Flight 2216 were killed when the plane crashed into a barrier in December while attempting to land at Muan International Airport after a bird struck one of its engines. The investigation’s release, which was set for last weekend, has been postponed due to protests from the families of the victims who were informed on its conclusions. They accused investigators of blaming the pilot and ignoring other significant circumstances.
On the morning of December 29, the pilots of Flight 2216 reported a bird attack and issued a mayday call as their plane approached the runway. The pilots attempted to land from the opposite direction. The plane was seen making a belly landing without landing gear and skidding along the runway before colliding with a concrete barrier. In March, the aircraft’s two engines were sent to France for analysis. According to new findings from South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board, a pilot shut off the left engine, which had no problems, rather than the right engine, which had been seriously damaged by a bird hit.
However, the victims’ families claimed that the study failed to include the concrete barrier at the end of the runway, which they said was responsible for the terrible tragedy. “The bereaved families seek a fair and transparent investigation into the accident,” they said in a statement, and requested investigators to hold a press briefing “only after a full and careful examination has been completed”. In a statement released on Sunday, the Jeju Air pilots’ union blasted the new findings for purportedly focussing on pilot error while downplaying other contributing aspects. A source familiar with the investigation, however, told Reuters that investigators would not revise their conclusions since they had “clear evidence and backup data”.
Following the incident, South Korea’s transportation ministry announced in January that concrete barriers will be removed at seven airports. In May, the relatives of the victims filed a criminal complaint against Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae, charging professional negligence. Mr Kim is one of 24 people being investigated over the catastrophe.
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