Families of victims upset with findings of report into South Korea's Jeju Air plane crash

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

An investigation into a South Korean plane crash that killed 179 people has found "clear evidence" that the pilots shut off the engine, but families of the victims say they don't trust the report.
The Jeju Air flight crash-landed at Muan International Airport on December 29, 2024, skidding along the runway before hitting a wall and exploding.
Families of the crash victims said they did not accept the investigation's findings.
They have raised questions about the transparency of the report, which they said concluded the crash was an error on the part of the pilots.
The findings of the report have now been hushed, and its release date has been delayed.
Lawyers representing the families have objected to the publication of the report and said investigators needed to look at other contributing factors, in addition to the bird strike.
As a result, a planned press briefing was cancelled and the release of the report was postponed, according to The Korea Times.
Groups representing the victims' families and the Jeju Air pilots' union said the media release could not be trusted and hoped investigators would include their views, too.
South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) has been accused by the union of "misleading the public" by suggesting there was no problem with the left engine, given traces of bird remains were found in both engines.
The union also accused the ARAIB of trying to make pilots "scapegoats" by failing to provide scientific and technological grounds that the plane could have landed safely with only the left engine turned on.
On Sunday, a day before the report was due to be released, a briefing session for the victims' families was held at Muan International Airport.
During the session, the Air Traffic Commission announced the investigation found: "There was no engine defect, and there is circumstantial evidence that the pilot turned off the left engine, not the right engine, which was more severely damaged by the collision, after the bird strike," South Korea's Yonhap News reported.
On the same day of the briefing session, Jeju Air Pilots' Union also released a statement, saying: "We are strongly outraged by the unilateral announcement by the Air Transport Commission and the media reports that quoted it without filtering, and we resolutely reject the malicious framing that seeks to shift responsibility to the pilots."
In May, the families filed a criminal complaint against 15 people, including South Korean Transport Minister Park Sang-woo, and airline safety representatives.
In a statement released by the lawyers for the families, they alleged negligence in managing safety risks and violations of the Aviation Safety Act.
They called for a more thorough investigation into the decision to attempt to land straight after a bird strike, the aircraft engine's maintenance, and whether the construction of a runway embankment was appropriate.
A source told Reuters the investigators looked at the cockpit voice recorder and computer data.
The evidence also included a physical engine switch found in the wreckage, which showed pilots shut off the left engine instead of the right engine when taking emergency steps before it was meant to land, after the reported bird strike.
No pre-existing defects were present in recovered engines.
"The investigation team has clear evidence and backup data, so its findings will not change," the source told Reuters.
The exact release date of the report has not been set; however, under international rules, a final report is expected within a year of the accident.