Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon) has been ordered by the South Korean government to suspend its San Francisco operations for 45 days as punishment for the crash of flight OZ214 in July of last year. The country's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport says the move is warranted after its investigation into the cause of the crash revealed several alleged safety violations on Asiana's part.

Though it has stated it plans to appeal the decision, Asiana has yet to commit with some news outlets claiming the airline got off relatively lightly. In comparison, following the crash of flight KE801 in 1997, Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) was banned from Guam International for two years in addition to a ban on opening new routes for 18 months afterward.

“We have two weeks to appeal and nothing is set in stone, but we are still considering what to do because to be honest we have got off light,” an Asiana source told Turkey's Anadolu news agency.

Asiana can choose when the ban will start with the off-peak season the most likely option.

The aircraft concerned, B777-200(ER) HL7742 (msn 29171), impacted the seawall just short of San Francisco's runway 28L's threshold resulting in the landing gear and tail section separating from the airframe. Of the 307 people aboard, 3 died while 181 were injured, 12 of them critically.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials have accused the pilots of misjudging the landing due to a failure to manage speed and altitude, along with a reliance on an automatic throttle they didn't fully understand.