Airlines ordered to pay fines, pilots suspended as punishment for accidents

Asiana Airlines was fined 900 million won ($802,282) for a runway accident two years ago and the pilot responsible stripped of his license, the transport ministry said Thursday while announcing a series of punitive actions against carriers.

Korean Air Lines Co. was ordered to pay 600 million won in penalties, also for a runway incident in the same year.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport convened a meeting of its administrative action review board earlier in the week to decide the level of punishment for airlines that have been involved in safety violations.

The Asiana flight skidded off the runway while landing at Japan's Hiroshima airport on April 14, 2015. The first officer was suspended from duty for 180 days.

Korean Air was fined for an accident on July 5, 2015, when the pilot pushed forward with a landing in Guam despite bad weather conditions. The pilot was suspended for three days and the co-pilot 15 days. The carrier was fined 600 million won more for another accident on Oct. 16 last year in which the pilots continued with the flight despite detecting a malfunction in the passenger compartment of the aircraft. 

Budget carrier T'way Air Co. was fined 300 million won for a flight to Taiwan in May 2015, in which the pilots made the flight without checking the state of the runway at the landing airport and moved onto the runway without authorization. The pilot and first officer were both suspended for 15 days. The company was also punished for reusing parts that were set aside to be returned.

Another low cost carrier, Jeju Air, was fined 600 million won for failing to report to the ministry about a pilot who was caught by Chinese authorities for not renewing his English proficiency test results.

Airline companies who choose to reject the board's decisions can file an appeal. (Yonhap)