Pilots of an Asiana Airlines plane are partly to blame for not doing more to avoid rain clouds and lightning in a June accident, a government investigation showed Friday.
An Asiana Airlines' Airbus 321 was preparing to land at the Gimpo International Airport en route from Jeju Island on June 9 when it encountered a storm. Lightning and hailstones broke off its nose, shut down the radar, cracked a cockpit window and punctured its engine covers.
According to the Ministry of Construction & Transportation, there were two rain clouds at the time of the incident. Instead of going around them, pilots chose to pass between them.
Antennas for the plane's radar, used to observe weather conditions, was fixed although regulations require them to be flexible, the report said.
The airplane should have maintained a speed of 270 knots when flying in the rain, but it flew at 320 knots, it added.
Separately, a joint investigation of the ministry and the French government, launched in mid-June is still in process. The aircraft is manufactured by the French company Airbus.
Despite the ministry's report, Asiana Airlines said its pilots are free from charges of wrongdoing and it will stick to its previous decision to award them for safely landing the plane carrying 200 passengers.
Seoul, Aug. 25 (Yonhap News)
Pilots' negligence partly to blame for Asiana Airlines incident: ministry |
