Land Ministry Fines Three Airlines 3.5 Billion KRW for Safety Violations

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on May 27 that it had imposed fines totaling 3,538,000,000 KRW on three airlines?Jeju Air, Tway Air, and Korean Air?for violations of the Aviation Safety Act. In addition, eight related aircraft maintenance engineers have been given confirmed suspensions of their certification validity.

By airline, Jeju Air was fined 800,000,000 KRW for two violations, Tway Air was fined 2,605,000,000 KRW for three violations, and Korean Air was fined 133,000,000 KRW for one violation. The certification suspensions for aviation personnel are as follows: one person for 45 days, two people for 30 days, and five people for 15 days.

Jeju Air failed to conduct pre- and post-flight inspections on two aircraft within the required 48-hour period. The airline was also found to have failed to follow the manual when an engine defect occurred, resulting in the same defect recurring.

Incheon International Airport Tway Air boarding counter. Photo by Yonhap News.

Tway Air conducted engine exhaust outlet crack inspections on three aircraft according to an arbitrarily set interval, rather than the manufacturer's standard of seven days. The airline also failed to follow the manual during maintenance related to hydraulic system defects, such as omitting filter replacements. It also violated the rule prohibiting the reuse of hydraulic filters. Furthermore, when a defect was found again after confirming airworthiness, the airline either erased previous maintenance records or altered them inaccurately.

Korean Air, during maintenance work related to the flap control system, failed to follow the procedures specified in the maintenance manual and installed equipment on top of temporarily fixed parts. The Ministry stated, "We will strictly enforce penalties for legal violations that could compromise aviation safety to prevent recurrence."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.