SEOUL: The families of victims from South Korea's deadliest plane crash on home soil have denounced a government report that attributed the disaster to pilot error.

According to sources who have seen the document, the investigation concluded that a bird strike damaged the Boeing 737-800's right engine.

However, instead of shutting down the affected engine as required by protocol, the pilot allegedly mistakenly shut down the left engine.

The ensuing power loss and malfunction of the landing gear system led to the tragic events on December 29, resulting in the death of 179 individuals.

The aircraft was flying from Thailand to Muan airport when it crashed, exploded upon impact, and then caught fire after hitting a concrete barrier.

Representatives for the victims' families argue that they were not given sufficient evidence or explanations about critical components like the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.

They claim these are essential for a thorough understanding of what happened in the cockpit leading up to the disaster.

In response, the Jeju Air pilots’ union expressed strong anger over the report's findings, vowing to contest what they perceive as a misguided attempt to unfairly blame the pilot.

The ongoing investigation into this incident, which involved both South Korean and US investigators, is still working towards determining the definitive cause of the disaster.

Possible contributing factors include bird strikes, engine issues, landing gear malfunctions, and the presence of a concrete runway barrier.

A final report on these matters is expected to be released in June next year.