Almost five months after a Jeju Air plane crashed in a deadly fireball at South Korea’s Muan International Airport on Dec. 29 and killed 179 people, dozens of bereaved family members filed a criminal complaint against 15 officials in the government and aviation industry.
On Tuesday, 72 relatives of victims submitted the complaint to the Jeonnam Provincial Police agency, accusing them of negligence and violating South Korean laws, according to a statement from lawyers representing the families.
Among those targeted in the complaint were Jeju Air’s CEO Kim E-bae, the nation’s transport minister, Park Sang-woo, and airport operators at the Muan International Airport. The complaint said they had been professionally negligent and violated the Serious Accidents Punishment Act as well as the Aviation Safety Act.
The families believe “the disaster wasn’t a simple accident but a serious civil disaster caused by negligence in mitigating risks,” according to the statement.
The Korean Airports Corporation, the state-run company that operates most of the airports in South Korea including the one in Muan, and the transport ministry declined to comment. Jeju Air did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the complaint, the family members also questioned the sharp pivot the pilot made before attempting to land, as well as the plane’s engine maintenance, and why Flight 2216’s flight recorder stopped working four minutes before the crash.
While the official cause of the crash has not been disclosed by investigators, New York Times investigations revealed that air officials had long been warned of the dangers regarding bird strikes, and that the crash might have been less deadly if the concrete wall at the end of the runway was made of a more frangible material, as they often are in other airports.
“There has been no progress in the four months since the disaster,” said Kim Da-hye, one of the family members included in the statement. “I can’t help but feel deep anger and despair.”
Since the crash, transport officials and airport runners have vowed to overhaul airport infrastructure and safety measures including reconstructing the concrete navigation devices near the runways at seven airports, using drones to detect bird activity near airports, and expanding maintenance crews working for low-cost carriers.
Muan International Airport officials plan to reopen the airport in July after implementing some of these new safety protocols.
The nation’s Aviation Railroad Accident Investigation Committee and investigators from the United States are carrying out an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Jin Yu Young reports on South Korea, the Asia Pacific region and global breaking news from Seoul.
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