Latest news with #Muan International Airport
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Families of victims upset with findings of report into South Korea's Jeju Air plane crash
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.
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Jeju Air crash: Victims' families decry report blaming pilot error
An investigation into last December's Jeju Air plane crash has found that the aircraft's pilot mistakenly shut the wrong engine, local media release of the report, scheduled for over the weekend, has been delayed after heated protests from families of the families had been briefed on the findings earlier, and accused investigators of pinning the blame on the pilot while ignoring other contributing but two of the 181 people on board the Jeju Air plane died after the aircraft crashed into a barrier and burst into flames while landing at Muan International Airport - the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil. On the morning of 29 December, the pilots of Jeju Air Flight 2216 reported a bird strike and made a mayday call as the plane approached the pilots then tried to land from the opposite direction. Video footage showed the plane making a belly landing - without its landing gear deployed - on the tarmac and skidding into a concrete aircraft's two engines were sent to France in March for analysis. The recent findings from South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board found that the pilot had turned off the left engine - which had no defects - instead of the right engine, which was more severely damaged by the bird families of the victims said that the report did not mention the concrete barrier at the end of the runway, which they argued is what made the accident so devastating."The bereaved families seek a fair and transparent investigation into the accident," they said in a statement, urging investigators to conduct a press briefing "only after a full and careful examination has been completed".In a statement on Sunday, the Jeju Air pilots' union similarly criticised the recent findings for allegedly focusing on pilots' misjudgement while downplaying other contributing factors.A source with knowledge of the probe, however, told Reuters that investigators would not change their findings as they had "clear evidence and backup data".Following the crash, South Korea's transport ministry said in January that it would remove concrete barriers at seven May, families of the victims lodged a criminal complaint against Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae, citing professional negligence. Mr Kim is among 24 people being investigated by the police over their role in the accident.
The Sun
5 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Pilots of doomed South Korean plane ‘switched off wrong engine' after flying into birds before crashing and killing 179
Annabel Bate, Foreign News Reporter Published: Invalid Date, THE pilots of the doomed South Korean plane appeared to switch off the wrong engine after flying into birds before crashing. The crash at Muan International Airport on December 29 killed 179 people after the plane did an emergency landing, hit a concrete slab at the end of the runway, and exploded into a fireball. 5 5 Officials took back copies of the interim findings from reporters after grieving relatives of victims killed in the crash disrupted a news conference of Saturday. They accused them of prematurely blaming the pilots for the devastating crash. Prior to the media event, investigators told relatives and their representatives that they had concluded that there was no engine defect on the plane. They added that various errors by the pilots had led them to land the aircraft too quickly, without the wheels being down. Preliminary findings confirmed the conclusions that aviation experts had reached from the plane's final path, as well as horror video footage captured from the fatal crash. In the final four minutes of the doomed flight, power to the aircraft's flight recorders was cut off - initially obstructing the investigation. After going into the flock of birds, one of the engines failed - while the other continued to produce a bit of power. Investigators revealed: "A pilot may have mistakenly turned off the engine. While an official told South Korea's MBN TV news: "The pilot should have turned off the right engine, which was severely damaged by the bird strike, but he turned off the left engine, which was spinning, and the black box and power went out." The pilots then ignored standard procedure for continuing of landing after a bird strike on approach. Terrifying moment Boeing passenger plane catches FIRE after take off with flames erupting from the engine They are said to have climbed back up before performing unorthodox manoeuvres and turning to make a rushed landing in the opposite direction - on the same runway. As the heartbroken families of victims entered the media briefing, officials were quick to take copies of the report back from reporters, explaining how it hadn't been officially issued. A man was heard shouting: "They've just blamed it all on the pilots." Head of the relatives' group Kim Yu-jin slammed the report as being unsatisfactory. She said: "When investigators take a position, it should be accompanied by documents that support their position and convince the bereaved family that their conclusions are inevitable. "We were only given their conclusions. "We have repeatedly asked them to be careful about these disclosures because the way that the results of the investigation are communicated can have an impact on the compensation that families receive." The packed jet - Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 - was carrying 181 people from Bangkok, Thailand. Firefighters said two of the six crew members, one man and one woman, survived after being pulled from the tail of the plane. The 33-year-old man suffered multiple fractures and is receiving special care following the disaster. He reportedly told doctors that he had already been rescued when he woke up, Yonhap said. Timeline of the Muan plane disaster By James Halpin, foreign news reporter SOUTH Korea has suffered its deadliest air disaster in two decades as a jet carrying 181 went down with only two survivors. 4.29am - Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 leaves Bangkok carrying tourists coming home from package holidays in Thailand. 8.57am - Pilot receives bird strike warning on approach to Muan International Airport. 8.58am - Pilot issues a mayday call - and witnesses report hearing an "explosion" overheard as video shows an apparent bird strike. 9.00am - Plane aborts first landing attempt on Runway 01. 9.03am - The jet then attempts a second landing on Runway 19 on its belly - and crashes in a fireball. 5
