45-Year-Old Captain with 6,823 Flight Hours
Former Air Force Officer Graduate... Promoted to Captain in 2019
Government: "No Evidence of Qualification Issues"
On the 29th, when the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster occurred at Muan Airport, a flight attendant was moving in front of the Jeju Air branch at the Aviation Support Center in Gangseo-gu, Seoul.
The pilot of the Jeju Air passenger plane involved in the collision accident at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do on the 29th has been identified as Captain Han Mo (45). Han was found to have over 6,000 hours of flight experience.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 29th, Captain Han is a former Air Force officer who joined Jeju Air in 2014. He was promoted to captain in March 2019 and has a total flight time of 6,823 hours to date. Of that, about 2,500 hours were as a captain. First Officer A, who was seated in the cockpit alongside Captain Han, also has over 1,650 total flight hours and has been a first officer for 1 year and 10 months. A Ministry of Land official explained, "While the pilot's fault in the accident is under investigation, we disclosed the flight experience because baseless rumors about not meeting qualification requirements have been circulating."
Considering that captains with 13 to 14 years of experience at low-cost carriers (LCCs) typically have around 7,000 total flight hours, the industry evaluates that Captain Han has been flying without major issues. Captain Han is also known among colleagues for his good flying skills. The accident aircraft, 'HL8088,' had an airframe age of 15 years and was departing for Bangkok. It was reported that there were no technical problems during the flight.
On the morning of the 29th at 8:57 a.m., Captain Han received a bird strike caution alert from the control tower, and two minutes later, he reportedly sent a 'Mayday' (emergency distress signal). However, unable to land, the passenger plane ascended again and attempted a go-around. Two minutes later, it attempted a belly landing in the opposite direction of the runway and collided with the outer wall of the runway at 9:03 a.m., causing an explosion. Some experts agree that considering Captain Han's flight experience, declaring 'Mayday' and attempting a belly landing in the urgent situation was an unavoidable decision. At the time of the accident, there were 181 people on board, including 175 passengers and 6 crew members. Except for two Korean crew members, all others died. This accident remains the deadliest aviation disaster in South Korea's history.
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