<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The initial results of an investigation into December's devastating </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/plane-catches-fire-at-south-korean-airport/9746b322-68c7-475f-8fd1-f40b0558757a" rel="" target="" title="Jeju Air crash"><span>Jeju Air crash</span></a><span> in South Korea have shown that, while both of the plane's engines sustained bird strikes, its pilots turned off the less-damaged one just before its crash-landing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The finding, which implied human errors, drew quick, vehement protests from bereaved families and fellow pilots who accused authorities of trying to shift responsibility for the disaster to the dead pilots.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board initially planned to publicise the results of an investigation of the plane's engines last weekend. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/barnaby-joyce-says-peter-dutton-asked-him-to-quit-politics-before-last-election-over-nuclear-policy/dd3e15f5-2b94-43ba-81ac-52f10d55aea8" target="_blank"><strong><span>Barnaby Joyce says Peter Dutton 'lost his mind' after he refused to say nuclear power would bring down energy bills</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But it was forced to cancel its press briefing in the face of strong protests by relatives of crash victims who were informed of the findings earlier in the day, according to government officials and bereaved families.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If they want to say their investigation was done in a reliable, independent manner, they should have come up with evidence that backs up their explanation," said Kim Yu-jin, head of an association of bereaved families.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"None of us resent the pilots."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/fatal-south-korea-jeju-air-plane-crash-investigation-pilot-error/2059f4f7-4086-4058-9fae-b3e6a3dc09b0" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air landed on its belly without its landing gear deployed at South Korea's southern Muan International Airport on December 29. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It overshot the runway, slammed into a concrete structure and burst into flames. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was the deadliest disaster in South Korea's aviation history in decades, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Investigation signals pilots turned off the wrong engine</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>According to a copy of an unpublished briefing report obtained by The Associated Press, a South Korean-led multilateral investigation team said it found no defects in the plane's engines built by France's Safran and GE.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The report said thorough examinations of the engines found the plane's right engine suffered more serious internal damage following bird strikes as it was engulfed in big fires and black smoke. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the pilots switched off the plane's left engine, the report said citing probes on the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder and the engines' examinations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials earlier said the black boxes of the Boeing jetliner </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/black-boxes-from-crashed-south-korean-plane-stopped-recording-about-four-minutes-before-disaster-officials-say/4bd18386-b427-4bad-93c7-f9cd889496ed" rel="" target="" title="stopped recording"><span>stopped recording</span></a><span> about four minutes before the accident, complicating investigations into the cause of the disaster.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder cited in the briefing report refers to data stored before the recording stopped.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The report didn't say why the pilots shut off the less-damaged engine and stopped short of saying whether it was an error by the pilots.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Bereaved families, fellow pilots slam the probe</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bereaved families and pilots at Jeju Air and other airlines lambasted the investigation findings, saying authorities must disclose the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We, the 6500 pilots at civilian airlines, can't contain our seething anger against the preposterous argument by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board that lost neutrality," the Korean Pilot Unions Alliance said in a statement on Tuesday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Unionised pilots at Jeju Air also issued a statement urging authorities to present scientific evidence to show the plane should have landed normally if it flew with the less-damaged engine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The latest report focused only on engine issues and didn't mention other factors that could also be blamed for the crash. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/coca-cola-donald-trump-approved-version-soft-drink-usa/36549d6f-b914-4940-8ce2-1a8ccd1b7350" target="_blank"><strong><span>Coca-Cola says it will release a new version of its soft drink after Trump recommendation</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Among them is the concrete structure the plane crashed into; it housed a set of antennas called localisers designed to guide aircraft safely during landings, and many analysts say it should have been made with more easily breakable materials. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Some pilots say they suspect the government wouldn't want to mainly and prominently blame the localisers or bird strikes for mass deaths, as the Muan airport is under direct management of the Transport Ministry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the Transport Ministry have offered no public response to the criticism; they said they also won't publicly discuss the engine investigation to respect demands by bereaved families.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A person familiar with the investigation told the AP that authorities are looking at the localisers and other issues, like whether air traffic controllers relayed the danger of bird strikes to the pilots swiftly enough and what emergency training Jeju Air offered to pilots.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The person, who requested anonymity citing the sensitive nature of the investigation, said authorities earlier planned to publicise the results of probes after reviewing various issues, but changed the plan and tried to release the outcome of the engine investigation at the request of bereaved families. He said authorities don't intend to lay the responsibility for the disaster on the pilots.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities aim to publish the investigation's final results by next June, the person said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-jeffrey-epstein-new-photos-emerge-wedding-pictures-usa-news/f87d5fe1-8c1d-495f-b917-ee4d89fe4e9b" target="_blank"><strong><span>Newly discovered photos and video shed fresh light on Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kwon Bo Hun, dean of Aeronautics College at the Far East University in South Korea, called the engine investigation report "clumsy" because it didn't disclose evidence that supported its finding on the pilots.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said it only irritated "emotional parts of us" as the investigation raised suspicions that it puts the whole blame on the dead pilots.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A former Transport Ministry-turned-university professor reached by the AP said the engine investigation report must be "reliable" as it's based on an analysis of cockpit voice and flight data recorders that "don't lie"; he spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the delicate nature of the issue.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple App Store</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>.</span></em></strong></div></div>