Victims’ families decry report blaming pilot error

Local media reported that the investigation of the Jojo air plane last December found that the plane pilot accidentally closed the wrong engine.

The release of the report, scheduled for the weekend, was delayed, after hot protests from the families of the victims.

Families were briefed on the results earlier, accusing investigators of commenting on the pilot while ignoring other contributing factors.

All two of the 181 people died on the Jeju air plane after the plane crashed into a checkpoint and opened to fire while landing at MUAN International Airport – the most bloody plane crash on the South Korean soil.

On the morning of December 29, Gigo Air Force reported 2216 about the bird’s strike and contacted the May Day call as the plane approached the runway.

Then the pilots tried to land from the opposite direction. Video footage showed the plane making a belly landing – without spreading the landing equipment – on the airport runway and slipping into a concrete checkpoint.

The plane’s engines were sent to France in March for analysis. The recent results of the Board of investigating airline and railway accidents in South Korea found that the pilot had turned off the left engine – which had no faults – instead of the right engine, which was severely affected by the bird strike.

However, the families of the victims said that the report did not mention the concrete barrier at the end of the runway, which they said was that the accident was destroyed.

They said in a statement: “The broken families seek a fair and transparent investigation in the accident,” and they urged investigators to hold a press conference “only after the completion of a full and accurate examination.”

In a statement on Sunday, the Jeju Air Force Union likened the recent results by allegedly focusing on the miscalculation of pilots while reducing other contributing factors.

However, a source informed with the knowledge of Reuters that the investigators would not change their results because they “have clear evidence and backup data.”

After the accident, the South Korean Ministry of Transport said in January that it would remove concrete barriers at seven airports.

In May, the families of the victims filed a criminal complaint against the CEO of Jeju Air Kim E-Be, citing professional neglect. Mr. Kim is among the 24 people being investigated by the police because of their role in the accident.