Altitude Deviation

 

Korean Air, which has insisted on the strong punishment of Asiana Airlines for the landing accident at San Francisco, has been hit with an administrative disposition before its rival.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said (MOLIT) on Oct. 8 that Korean Air flight KE023 heading to San Francisco deviated from its regular altitude without any instructions and returned on Nov. 8, 2012, and relevant administrative discipline was decided for the captain and his co-pilot.

Accordingly, the MOLIT notified the captain and co-pilot of suspension of their airline transport pilot licenses for 15 and 30 days, respectively.

The aircraft left its regular altitude above the Pacific Ocean without instruction from the air traffic controller when the aircraft was 500km away from San Francisco. The captain stepped out to go to the restroom, and the co-pilot caused the aircraft to deviate about 375m.

The pilots informed the company about this incident later, and Korean Air reported this to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport about 20 days later.

An official at the transportation ministry said, “Airline companies are required to report any mistakes and accidents that happen during flights, but Korean Air failed to do so in a timely manner. Since aircraft are flying at very high speeds, there are higher chances of crashes when aircraft deviate from their altitude.”

On the other hand, Asiana Airlines had a landing accident at the San Francisco Airport in July last year on the same route as well. The MOLIT is currently preparing administrative disposition for Asiana Airlines.

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution