South Korea bans Asiana flights to S.F. as punishment for 2013 crash

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Firefighters, lower center, stand by a tarpaulin sheet covering the body of a Chinese teen struck by a firetruck during the emergency response to the crash of Asiana Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. Ye Mengyuan, 16, was still alive when a firetruck ran over her, the San Mateo County coroner said Friday. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP)

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The wrecked fuselage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 sits in a storage area at San Francisco International Airport. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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Burned seats are visible in the wrecked fuselage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 as it sits in a storage area at San Francisco International Airport. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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The wreckage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 is moved off-site to a secure area away from the runway. (John G. Mabanglo / EPA)

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The engines and tail section from Asiana Airlines Flight 214 sit in a storage area at San Francisco International Airport. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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This combination of photos shows Asiana Airlines Flight 214 just moments after crashing at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco on Saturday. The Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed while landing after a likely 10-hour-plus flight from Seoul. (Dawn Siadatan / Associated Press)

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Asiana Airlines Flight 214 just moments after crashing at the San Francisco International Airport on Saturday. (Dawn Siadatan / Associated Press)

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A passenger of the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco is pushed on a stretcher after arriving at Incheon Airport, west of Seoul on Monday. (Kim Hong-Ji / AFP/Getty Images)

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The parents of Wang Lin Jia, one of two teens killed on Asiana Airlines Flight 214 react after hearing news of their daughter’s death. (AFP / Getty Images)

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The Boeing 777 aircraft lies burned on the runway after it crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

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Passengers from Asiana Airlines Flight 214 are treated at San Francisco General Hospital. (John Green / Associated Press)

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Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, had been scheduled to be on the Asiana Airlines plane that crashed at San Francisco International Airport, but switched flights at the last moment. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

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Lee Choon-Hee, center, whose daughter sustained injuries as a passenger on Asiana Airlines Flight 214, arrives at Asiana Airlines’ head office in Seoul, South Korea. The Asiana Airlines flight crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday, killing at least two people, injuring dozens of others and forcing passengers to jump down the emergency inflatable slides to safety as flames tore through the plane (Lee Jin-man / Associated Press)

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China Airlines passengers who were diverted to LAX from San Francisco International Airport after the plane crash wait for buses to take them to hotels. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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China Airlines employees work to coordinate buses to hotels for passengers diverted to LAX from San Francisco International Airport. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Investigators pass the detached tail and landing gear of Asiana Flight 214 after it crashed at San Francisco International Airport. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)

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The charred wreckage of the Asiana Airlines flight from South Korea lies at the San Francisco International Airport after it crashed during landing. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

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Fire crews were on the scene after an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed on landing at San Francisco International Airport. (John Green / McClatchy-Tribune )

By Veronica Rocha

Nov. 14, 2014 4:36 PM PT

South Korean officials have banned Asiana Airlines from flying to San Francisco International Airport for 45 days due to last year’s deadly runway crash.

The nation’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced its decision to restrict the airline’s flights to San Francisco on Friday, the Associated Press reported. Asiana plans to appeal the decision, according to media reports.

Doug Yakel, spokesman for San Francisco International Airport, told The Times they have received limited information about the decision and have not been told when it will be begin or even if it will ever happen.

As of Friday, the South Korea-based airline still had a flight on schedule at the airport.

Asiana officials said in a statement that the ministry suspended its Incheon-San Francisco route and, in response, Korean American groups have filed petitions for leniency with the ministry.

The decision, they said, was made “without considering inconvenience of passengers travelling the route or national interests at all.”

“It is not implemented within the intent of the law,” the statement said.

Asiana said they will consider legal action against the decision.

The airline came under scrutiny after three people were killed on July 6, 2013, when Flight 214 clipped a sea wall and slammed into a runway at the airport.

More than 180 of the 307 passengers and crew members aboard the Boeing 777 were injured in the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said in July the pilots failed to manage their speed and altitude, relied on automatic throttle they didn’t fully understand and mismanaged the landing.

It was the first major commercial aircraft accident in the United States in five years.

For breaking news throughout California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA. She can be reached at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.