On the 21st local time, the Korean Civil Aviation Pilots Association (ALPA-K), a group of civilian aviators in South Korea, issued a statement expressing strong opposition to the findings of the National Transportation Safety Committee’s Air and Railway Accident Investigation Committee regarding the crash of a Jeju Airlines aircraft. The statement highlighted:
“The Air and Railway Accident Investigation Committee attempted to shift responsibility for the accident onto the pilots,” and positively refuted the National Transportation Safety Committee’s investigation process and conclusions.
△ On December 29, 2024, the Jeju Airlines flight 7C2216 landed at Busan Airport, leading to an emergency search and rescue operation.
Investigation Committee: Pilot Errors Led to the Deactivation of Both Engines
On the 19th of this month, during a briefing, the Air and Railway Accident Investigation Committee stated that a detailed investigation into the two engines of the crashed Jeju Airlines aircraft revealed that both engines were struck by birds at the time of the incident.
However, the pilot did not shut down the right engine severely damaged by the bird strike but instead shut down the left engine, resulting in both engines losing power. Consequently, the power supply for the engine electric devices was also cut off. This action led to the simultaneous loss of power to electronic devices such as the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) (black box). The landing gear may also have been unable to start due to this.
Korean Pilots Association: “Pilot Error” is a Misleading Conclusio
The Korean Civil Aviation Pilots Association expressed its dissatisfaction with the Air and Railway Accident Investigation Committee’s determination of the cause of the comprehensive accident based solely on partial information, stating:
“This completely violates the basic principles of accident investigation.”
It urged the committee to transparently disclose all investigation materials, including those from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), which are available.
In its statement, the Korean Civil Aviation Pilots Association pointed out that the Air and Railway Accident Investigation Committee ignored the complexity of the accident and the overall failure of the aviation accident prevention system, attempting to pinpoint the cause as “pilot error” as a single factor. This, they argue, is a “directional misrepresentation that starts with the pilot as the scapegoat.” (CCTV Reporter: Zhang Yun)