What should the Jeju Air passenger plane accident that occurred at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, 2024, be called?
More than a year after the accident, the government and the bereaved families are at odds over the name of the incident. The families are asking the government to use a name that includes the accident site and the airline, but the government says that is difficult.
According to the aviation industry on the 21st, right after the major accident at Muan Airport in January last year, the government and the families, citing the practice of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) established by the United Nations (UN), decided on the name "12·29 Jeju Air passenger plane disaster."
Afterward, when the National Assembly passed the "12.29 passenger plane disaster special act for relief and support" in April, the government began calling it the "12.29 passenger plane disaster."
By contrast, since May last year the families have been calling the incident the "12·29 Muan Airport Jeju Air passenger plane disaster." Kim Yu-jin, head of the families' association, said, "When we organized the families' association in May last year, we decided to specify the responsible parties in the accident name," adding, "If the plane had exploded in midair, Jeju Air's responsibility would be greater, but because the Muan Airport embankment affected the accident, we included both."
Among some family members, there is an interpretation that the government left the airline and the location out of the name to deny a link between the Muan Airport embankment and the accident.
The accident investigation committee has repeatedly told the families that pilot error on Jeju Air flight 2216, the accident aircraft, was significant. In a closed-door briefing on engine findings in July last year, the committee also emphasized pilot error to the families, saying that "while carrying out emergency procedures, the pilot shut down the left engine, which was in relatively good condition, and the collision occurred with the engine shut down."
However, after the black box containing the cockpit situation at the time of the accident was released, it was revealed that after a flock of birds struck the engine, the pilot shut down the engine per the manual to cut off fire, and that the collision with the embankment occurred four minutes after issuing the emergency call "mayday" three times. This has prompted analyses that responsibility is heavy for improperly building the embankment.
According to an internal, nonpublic collision simulation report released by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye, if Muan Airport's direction-finding facility had been supported by a "breakaway structure without an embankment," the aircraft would have gone through the fence. It suggests there might not have been so many deaths.
An official at Kim Eun-hye's office said, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) calling the incident the '12.29 passenger plane disaster' reflects an intent not to include 'Muan Airport' in the name," adding, "It can be seen as not wanting the airport's own negligence to be revealed."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) flatly dismissed any intention to change the name of the incident going forward. A MOLIT official said, "Looking back at many past disasters, the effects of the names were varied," adding, "In particular, including a location in the accident name has a fairly negative effect."
The official added, "The families are raising issues about the follow-up measures to the accident," and "there is no reason to change the official name, which has already been fully discussed."