Flight Despite Wing Damage... 888 Million KRW Fine Imposed on Jeju Air

Damage to Aircraft Wings or Rear Fuselage During Takeoff and Landing
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines Also Incur 33 Million and 20 Million KRW Respectively

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Jeju Air has been fined 888 million KRW for violating safety regulations. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines were also fined 33 million KRW and 20 million KRW respectively.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 11th that it held an administrative disposition review committee and imposed a total fine of 941 million KRW on Jeju Air, Korean Air, and Asiana Airlines. Additionally, the committee reviewed and decided to temporarily suspend the certification validity of four aviation personnel, including related pilots.

In the case of Jeju Air, among three violations where parts of the aircraft wing or rear fuselage were damaged during takeoff or landing but were not properly checked before flight, fines of 666 million KRW and 222 million KRW were imposed on two cases respectively, totaling 888 million KRW. Furthermore, maintenance personnel and pilots who neglected the obligation to verify aircraft damage were each suspended from certification validity for 30 days.

The one unresolved case will be re-examined at the next administrative review committee after reflecting and reviewing the penalty amount for additional violations.

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines were fined a total of 53 million KRW (33 million KRW for Korean Air and 20 million KRW for Asiana Airlines) for operating aircraft without additional crew despite anticipating that pilots would exceed maximum duty hours during flight planning.

The results of this review will be notified to the respective airlines and aviation personnel according to the Administrative Procedures Act, and after collecting opinions from the parties involved, the final decision is expected to be confirmed in July.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated that it will continuously strengthen supervision over airlines' compliance with safety regulations to create a safe aviation environment and will strictly punish any confirmed violations.

In particular, the ministry plans to focus on supervising the training status of aviation personnel who have been repeatedly taking leave and returning to work due to COVID-19, as well as the maintenance status of aircraft.

A ministry official said, "To prevent recurrence of such violations, we will share the cases of penalties with each airline and require them to establish and implement recurrence prevention measures."