Families of the 179 people who lost their lives last year due to the tragic Jeju Air crash have staged dramatic rallies near the presidential office in Seoul, protesting against what they decried to be the “unilateral” investigation led by the government. Overnight sit-ins, including shaving their heads, were staged by the relatives to convey their dissatisfaction before the essential public hearing on Thursday, when interim findings regarding last December 29’s tragic crash are to be disclosed.
Families protest the government investigation board’s lack of independence
The victims’ group is also demanding that the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board, which investigates the disaster, should move from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the Office of the Prime Minister. This will ensure greater independence during the time of investigation, said the victims’ relatives, who claim such an investigation is a problematic “self-investigation” when conducted by the ministry, which also formulates aviation safety policy.
The issue is that the family members are complaining about the long rush to the public hearing conducted by the investigation board without first of all, incorporating adequate transparency and involvement by the relatives who are affected by the death. They are complaining about not being able to ask any questions during the said public hearing and not having access to any draft of the findings before the completion of the investigation, which is supposed to take no more than a year.
The investigation board is accused of reaching hasty conclusions
The plaintiffs believe the investigation board is trying to quickly wrap up the case by pinpointing the reasons behind the accident, which are largely due to errors by pilots and bird strikes. They also claim that the investigation board has not paid enough attention to the impact of the plane collision with the concrete wall structure, which has heightened the accident severity and death toll.
According to officials, under regulations, it is mandatory to share the interim result within a year after such an event, but the family insists that the institution has historically delayed interim result releases in 78 percent of such occurrences. The family members further claim that it is also mandatory to share factual information with the victims before the presentation by the investigators, which has never been done.
“The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board is obliged to reveal to the families the truth and to enable the affected families to take part in the investigation,” said the family association during a protest.
The ongoing sit-in continues until demands are met
The family members are determined to continue their protest until their demand regarding transparency and independence is met by the relevant government authorities. In fact, their protest involves organizing rallies and candlelight demonstrations to demand a thorough investigation into the December 29 crash at Muan International Airport. The protesters also plan to hold rallies at the location of the controversial public hearing, which is the Seoul Global Center.
The investigation board has already tried to publish provisional findings last July, but withdrew the plan after families expressed objections against conclusions deemed to hold the pilots too much to blame. “Faulty conclusions” are how the families consider any conclusions pointing to pilots and not to the failure of infrastructure and safety protocols, which should not be published to the media and public.
The demand by the families to conduct an independent investigation is an expression of their concern regarding the transparency and accountability of the aviation safety regulatory body in South Korea. The protest by the family is a tug-of-war between the family and the authorities, who are working under time constraints to carry out the investigation.
