The United States Department of Transportation said on Tuesday, Feb. 25 that South Korean airline Asiana Airlines violated federal law by not fulfilling the guarantees owed to the families of the victims of the accident which took place in July of last year.
On July 6, 2013 a girl and two teenagers lost their lives, while 180 of the 307 passengers on board Asiana Airlines flight 214 were injured when a Boeing 777 crashed against a fence at the San Francisco International Airport.
American aviation authorities have fined the airline with $500,000, due to how slow the airline responded to last year's accident and since the standards of attention to the families of the victims were not respected, since Asiana Airlines took almost 24 hours to provide them with a phone number to keep them updated, according to a report by the AFP.
Likewise, an investigation revealed that the South Korean company took two days to reach out to 75 percent of the passengers, and some did not receive a call until five days after the accident.
The half a million dollars fine imposed by the United States Department of Transportation is the first against a company since in 1997 an existing law established that airlines must guarantee a "family assistance plan" in the case of an accident.
"Asiana Airlines' response to the flight 214 accident indicates that the company did not have the resources to carry out their family assistance plan," wrote the Department of Transportation in a press release, quoted by Reuters.
On its part, the airline said in an email sent to Reuters that "Asiana Airlines provided ample support to passengers and their families as a consequence of the accident and will continue to do so," but did not provide further details.
The accident which took place last July 6 is still under investigation by the United States National Transport Safety Board.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
