An investigation into last December’s Jeju Air plane crash has found that the aircraft’s pilot mistakenly shut the wrong engine, local media reported.
The release of the report, scheduled for over the weekend, has been delayed after heated protests from families of the victims.
The families had been briefed on the findings earlier, and accused investigators of pinning the blame on the pilot while ignoring other contributing factors.
All but two of the 181 people on board the Jeju Air plane died after the aircraft crashed into a barrier and burst into flames while landing at Muan International Airport – the deadliest plane crash on South Korean soil.
On the morning of 29 December, the pilots of Jeju Air Flight 2216 reported a bird strike and made a mayday call as the plane approached the runway.
The pilots then tried to land from the opposite direction. Video footage showed the plane making a belly landing – without its landing gear deployed – on the tarmac and skidding into a concrete barrier.
The aircraft’s two engines were sent to France in March for analysis. The recent findings from South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board found that the pilot had turned off the left engine – which had no defects – instead of the right engine, which was more severely damaged by the bird strike.
However, families of the victims said that the report did not mention the concrete barrier at the end of the runway, which they argued is what made the accident so devastating.
“The bereaved families seek a fair and transparent investigation into the accident,” they said in a statement, urging investigators to conduct a press briefing “only after a full and careful examination has been completed”.
In a statement on Sunday, the Jeju Air pilots’ union similarly criticised the recent findings for allegedly focusing on pilots’ misjudgement while downplaying other contributing factors.
A source with knowledge of the probe, however, told Reuters that investigators would not change their findings as they had “clear evidence and backup data”.
Following the crash, South Korea’s transport ministry said in January that it would remove concrete barriers at seven airports.
In May, families of the victims lodged a criminal complaint against Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae, citing professional negligence. Mr Kim is among 24 people being investigated by the police over their role in the accident.