South Korean regulators have fined three airlines a total of $2.6 million over safety violations.
Korean Air, Jeju Air, and T’way Air, all based in South Korea, violated the country’s Aviation Safety Act, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported Tuesday, citing a statement from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. As part of the penalty, eight aircraft maintenance workers employed by the airlines had their licenses suspended.
T’way, a low-cost carrier based in Seoul, incurred the heaviest fine, equivalent to $1.9 million. The airline was found to have conducted inspections at arbitrary intervals, skipped hydraulic fluid tests, and failed to replace and in some cases reused hydraulic filters. T’way also altered and deleted maintenance records when defects were found during inspections.
Korean Air and Jeju received smaller fines.
Regulators said Jeju failed to follow standard engine troubleshooting steps and did not conduct required flight checks for two aircraft, both Boeing 737-800s, within a mandated 48-hour period.
Korean Air, South Korea’s largest airline, was cited for improper maintenance of flap systems on its Airbus A330-300s.
South Korean aviation standards have been under scrutiny since the fatal crash of a Jeju flight in December.
The aircraft used to operate the flight, a 737-800, was approaching Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Korea, when a bird strike occurred. Landing gear failed to deploy, and the aircraft hit the runway at high speed and slid on its belly into a concrete wall and exploded.
The collision instantly killed 179 people. There were two survivors, both members of the cabin crew.
