Asiana appeals 45-day flight ban penalty for deadly crash

SEOUL: South Korea’s Asiana Airlines yesterday appealed against a government decision to suspend its lucrative service to San Francisco for 45 days as a penalty for a deadly plane crash there last year.

The Transport Ministry last week ordered the suspension of the once-a-day service between Incheon and San Francisco.

In its appeal, the airline called for the dismissal of the sevenmember disciplinary panel that decided the suspension, claiming the semi-official body was ‘biased’ against Asiana in favour of its competitor Korean Air.

Unless the demand is met, Asiana will immediately seek a court injunction against the punitive measure, it said in a statement.

“Suspension on services ... would cause inconvenience to passengers and ... project a negative image” of the company, the statement said.

An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed at San Francisco International Airport in July last year after clipping a sea wall with its landing gear.

Three passengers were killed and more than 180 injured.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in June that a mismanaged approach for landing in a highly automated cockpit was the probable cause.

Investigators said captain Lee Kang-Kuk, a seasoned Airbus A320 pilot who was transitioning to the bigger Boeing 777, cut the autopilot on final approach into San Francisco, where the instrument landing system was out of service. — AFP