Asiana plane crashes at San Francisco airport; 2 dead

One Japanese passenger is on board. Still waiting for the official conference. Hope everyone is safe.

End of an era for the 777: the first fatalities during a flight. Hopefully the critically injured survivors recover.

Yes, let us only worry about ONE Japanese passenger and?? Not care about the other 299 passengers on this horrible flight?? Anyway, I use SFO all the time, these folk are lucky that they did not end up in the sea, because the way the runways there at SFO are set up, right into SF bay, and that would make the rescue operations even worse. Do hope they find out why this plane came in at a strange angle, pilot error?? Some crazy wind?? Who knows, but I hope everyone can overcome this.

Do hope they find out why this plane came in at a strange angle, pilot error?? Some crazy wind??

Accident investigations usually take a few months. Hopefully the FDR and CVR survived. They are in the part of the aircraft that separated. They should tell a lot about what happened. I doubt it is wind related. I have never had problems with wind when landing at SFO, at least not like I do when coming in to NRT.

Yes, let us only worry about ONE Japanese passenger and?? Not care about the other 299 passengers on this horrible flight??

Hope everyone is safe.

The BBC is reporting 'at least one fatality'. I hope there are no more. The plane looks a wreck.

Word has it the tail struck the sea wall. Sounds like a case of pilot error.

Sounds like a case of pilot error.

Sounds like you are making an assumption on very little information. Lets wait for the NTSB to do their job.

Information discrepancy from the Asiana Airlines is beyond comprehension after 7 hrs has already passed by.

For some reason, the airline is not transparent to world media. They cannot even issue a passenger manifest to media and where these passengers are at. I wonder if it has something to do with language issue. What a mess.

zichi

In 2008, a 777 crash landed at Heathrow in a very similar way to this one. The SF Fire Chief said 61 passengers unaccounted for.

Yes, they mention that crash in this article too I think, but would it not be incredibly coincidental for those reasons to cause another crash at the exact same location in flight? That flight had fuel problems which were unconnected to landing, were they not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCE4nBnLQJM

-hit the sea wall (come in too low)

Rest in Peace to the poor victims. There will be many - make no mistake. Looking at the pictures, it is a miracle anyone survived.

People who were watching planes landing noticed it was too low just before reaching the runway. Could be ALS malfunction or pilot error.

Our prayers go out to the families of the two passengers died in the air crash. To all those affected be strong and those injured may your injuries and wounds heal. Today was a travel day for Airline Adviser so we are just getting details too. Based on the what we see and hear there are a number of factors to consider including possible hard landing at a steep angle enough to tear off the rear bulkhead and wing. Of course nobody can jump to conclusions but again our prayers to all those affected. Airlineadviser.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2aDzEvW89Q ATC - Asiana flight 214

I'm not surprised that this happened. I fly in and out of korea alot over the past several years. And korean pilots simply have difficulty landing large aircraft perfectly. Calm favorable weather, little wind, good visibility yet pilot error on the landing with no distress call. Passengers said he came in to low and tried "at the last minute to correct the positioning of the plane"

Hopefully now there will be an investigation and improvements made for Korean pilot training especially for landing. The roughest landings i have ever had its scarey.

drunk driving?

Information discrepancy from the Asiana Airlines is beyond comprehension after 7 hrs has already passed by.

For some reason, the airline is not transparent to world media. They cannot even issue a passenger manifest to media and where these passengers are at. I wonder if it has something to do with language issue. What a mess.

true, but we don't know whether it is from the Asiana Airlines or NSA.

globalwatcher: "Information discrepancy from the Asiana Airlines is beyond comprehension after 7 hrs has already passed by."

Why, so we can gossip and point fingers while the facts remain unknown? The information will be disseminated when there is information to give. Be it a plane crash, a car accident, or some random attack on the street, it is irresponsible for the authorities to throw out theories with no grounds to them. Once facts are gleaned from an investigation by those in charge rest assured the news will get out. For now, I'd say the main priority is to account for those missing and for rescuers to do their best to ensure there are no more fatalities. And here's praying there are not.

I'm not surprised that this happened. I fly in and out of korea alot over the past several years. And korean pilots simply have difficulty landing large aircraft perfectly

Certainly Korean Air 15 or 20 years ago was notoriously scraping the bottom in most important measures of safety (and fatalities) which might carryover a cockpit communication culture with the otherwise excellent Asiania Airlines, although I am not sure the issues are specific to landings.

Lizz, Asiana has many foreign pilots because the can pay them lower wages. So, who was the pilot then? Anyway, it is good that it wasn't worse.

Yeah, I think those who did survive are giving thanks right now. It probably could have ended 100 different ways with 90 of them being a lot worse.

Even tail has been ripped off, thanks to slower fuel burning, majority survived. We have to be grateful that plane was not exploded as pieces. May be less fuel in the tank. Another possibility is strength of material which can withstand the temperature. Boeing 777 is one of the toughest and strongest plane.

From Seoul to SF, there was no drama. Plane was not guilty. It was entirely incompetent pilot fault for making dangerous landing.

Elliott Stone was one of them. He was "10 seconds away from being home" when the airplane dipped "kind of sharp," followed by another adjustment "and then just boom, the back end just hit and flies up in the air

Ref: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/06/us/california-plane-incident/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

smithinjapanJul. 07, 2013 - 01:21PM JST

globalwatcher: "Information discrepancy from the Asiana Airlines is beyond comprehension after 7 hrs has already passed by."

The number of passengers on manifest (boarded) and what they have counted at the SFO airport and hospitals do not add up correctly. One passenger is missing somewhere, and nobody knows where he/she is..

2 of those pilots are long term seasoned vets with thousands of hours flying 777's?

During the landing, unlikely two veterans pilots was not on duty. If you read CNN, there plane flied too low for landing. Then tilted suddenly. It was a hard landing because I was one of eye witnesses. The consequence was plane was shaking violently. Then tail hit the ground.

I also conclude that it was pilot or human error.

It was entirely incompetent pilot fault for making dangerous landing.

The pilots had a problem before landing, and emergency services were standing by.

Lizz: "And korean pilots simply have difficulty landing large aircraft perfectly"

How did I know some would come on here and try to blame this on ethnicity? The pilot in charge, and it's not clear if there were others in the cockpit who were not Korean, but it's highly likely there were and it seems they were ALL caught by surprise!, was a veteran who had clocked more hours than many who have had accidents before him. The accident was not caused because of where he was born.

globalwatcher: "One passenger is missing somewhere, and nobody knows where he/she is.."

The article states all passengers are accounted for.

wow right in my backyard

To further clarify my statement, because it seems that some people are drawing conclusions that I was not implying. First off No one has blamed this accident on ethnicity the fact remains that the pilots who crashed the plane were korean pilots but they didn't crash because they were Korean. SmithinJapan you can make all the assumptions you want, but I will state this one more time. Korean pilots tend to have trouble landing large aircraft. Why do I think this?

Maybe because I have flown over 50,000 air miles aboard planes flown by korean pilots and of the dozens of landings only a few were normal. Most landings of large747 777, etc were hard or excessively hard rocky landings. I don't care how many flight hours they have or years they've spent flying. It doesn't help if their culture allows common sense to take a back seat to their hierarchy way of thinking. Meaning even if a seasoned pilot misses something or makes an error a younger co-pilot would think twice before correcting him. I have no doubt this crash was pilot error. Every passenger is saying the plane was too low.

Shining,

"The roughest landings i have ever had its scarey."

You've clearly never flown Ryanair.

Even the chickens and the goats complain about paying for toilet paper.

Maybe because I have flown over 50,000 air miles aboard planes flown by korean pilots and of the dozens of landings only a few were normal.

Maybe you have a point. Vietnam Airlines fired a Korean pilot recently who had faked his certifications. He raised alarm bells after too many rough landings, alarming his Vietnamese colleagues.

After accidents in the past involving Korean Airlines, experts raised questions over Korean cockpit culture. Basically, no one ever questions the captain's authority.

According traffic frequencies from SFO when Asiana 214 contacted SFO approach @ 9000 ft till touchdown. There was no emergency declared at anytime, nor any communication that would indicate there was any issue with the plane, crew, or passengers.

Last communication from Asiana 214 was "Short Final" for runway 28R @ 18:23 Zulu. Then at 18:24 Zulu, Asiana 214 impacts the runway and calls tower saying "we have had an accident".

18:25 tower calls Asiana 214 with the famous clip played on all news networks "Asian 214 heavy emergency vehicles are responding". 18:27 Rescue 33 and rescue 11 calls tower to cross runways 1L and 1R to respond to the plane crash.

If that pilot clearly knew what he was doing, that two young teen lives will be saved. RIP. Chinese students have to realize that JAL is safer than Asiana for SF route. They have to swallow their national pride and fly wtih JAL in the future. No more tragedies.

Chinese students have to realize that JAL is safer than Asiana for SF route. They have to swallow their national pride and fly wtih JAL in the future. No more tragedies.

It is cheaper to stay in Seoul (and buy things) than going thru Japan. I would say Seoul is the more popular destination and maybe the better city than Tokyo. Seoul is on the up and leading most of Asia -and it is trending that way. Some cities in China have more growth, but do not have the complete package that Seoul has. =Seoul is the destination.

From Seoul to SF, there was no drama. Plane was not guilty. It was entirely incompetent pilot fault for making dangerous landing.

You're making way too many assumptions without the facts. It so happens that they have already found that this same plane had some mechanical issues 2008. Not sure if they are linked, but you can't just assume that this was pilot error without a full investigation.

Chinese students have to realize that JAL is safer than Asiana for SF route. They have to swallow their national pride and fly wtih JAL in the future. No more tragedies.

And this comment is just plain dumb. JAL's safety record isn't exactly spotless, and they still hold the record for the deadliest single airplane crash ever...

According to some witnesses, the Asiana plane that crashed in SF was swaying while approaching the runway, which may indicate that it also had a problem of yawing, as in the above case. I wonder whether the attempt to straighten the plane alone, in the face of the yawing, cannot create strong forces that act on the tale.

People were exiting while, grabbing their carry-on.... Amazingly stupid

But than again if my money, passport,credit cards and id was in the carry-on... Maybe I would have done the same

This morning news stated that two 16 yeqar old girls with Chinese last name died. Then it stated all passengers are accounted, 8 people, including one child are in critical condition. That is all with photos of crush including smokes from different areas.

NSTB chief just spoke, and it looks like pilot error. Plane basically stalled during approach, lost altitude and pranged the seawall, even though visibility and weather were excellent.

Just saw a video of the final moments before crash on "BNN" (you know) and although it was taken from a distance you can see what happened.

Given that you already bashed Korean culture in general ("It doesn't help if their culture allows common sense to take a back seat to their hierarchy way of thinking.")

So to be discuss your personal experience in the context of flying Korean exclusively and being worried about the quality of the maintenance and competency of the people in the cockpit is somehow uncivil, or even a race and ethnic-based attack ? If only more foreign pilots would stay with the airline.....were it not for the racism and discrimination. lol That is a bit harsh considering that before 1999 Korean Air came under way more fire, so to speak, for allowing an amateurish and unprofessional authoritarian cockpit culture, inadequate English and pilot error to compromise safety from internal company reports, its own pilots, Korean regulators not to mention then president Kim Dae-Jung...

182 injured people are recovering in area hospitals. SF General Hospital has 53. One 4 year ool boy has broken legs. Then NTSB recovered Black Box and examining voice recordings, There are 4 veteran pilots. They take turns to operate. 2 has more than 2,000 miles of flight experiences each. Other 2 has almost 2,000 miles of flight experiences each, CEO of ASIANA apologized for this accidents. Investigations will continue. The officials are not stating any guesses.

According the announcement from Asiana management, engine was not faulty. The plane was purchased less than six months. Weather is calm. Terrorists were not on the plane. If it was not the pilot fault, it may be the fault of the runway. However other planes have no drama on that runway. There was no any physical object on runway. According the passengers, the plane flied as almost sea level. Low attitude means high risk for crash!

here are other vids of cross wind landings just to prove that this pilot wasn't crazy or incompetent

It is so dumb comment. It has biased for defending hard landing action of pilot. Plane flied too low. When Pilot realize that he tilted suddenly again. It was a bit late and tale hit the ground. According Nathaw post, Pilot lack the communication with Tower for initial stage. Therefore rescue service was delayed too. Desending the plane is not diving from springbook. It was hard to belive that vetran pilot made the silly mistake for causing loss of lives. Anyway two people will never come back. He should be remorseful for his stupid action.

@Flyfalcon

You are reading and quoting my comments out of context...I suggest you reread the whole post and you'll understand why I made this comment.

@FlyFalcon

Also, the plane was not less than six months old. It went into service in March 2006 (more than 7 years ago). You should fact check instead of just regurgitating the news.

The pilot only had 43 hours of experience flying the triple 7.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323823004578591422758092016.html

Yup, definitely pilot error.

Mira

You may be die hard fan of Asana. The plane crash analysis should be fully unbiased and straight forward for preventing for future tradegies. It is not the issues about nationalsm of JAL or KAL or CAL. Zichi has proudly announced that pilot is a one of the top gun vertran with 12,387 hours of flying experience, including 3,220 hours on the Boeing 777.

It was an exaggeration and rubbish. That pilot has flied with Boeing 777 for only 43 hours. The consequence of his action was two teen lost the lives. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/08/us/asiana-airlines-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

That pilot knew he made a mistake. He tried to abort landing. He flied too low and too slow. Even If it was not a pilot fault, the beautiful senery of SF Airport should be accountable. Whenever I was flying on SF, I feel like I was floating on the heaven.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23222048

http://www.japantoday.com/category/world/view/official-asiana-flight-tried-to-abort-landing

@Octagon

I am not a die hard fan of Asiana nor have I ever flown with them... and I couldn't care less about KAL or any Korean bassed carriers for that matter.

I think too many people are jumping to conclusions, even before the NTSB, FBI, FAA, or any other authoritative body or REAL experts have finished their investigation. YOU are not an expert. YOU are making conclusions based on the little snippet of info that the news is providing.

JT mods: Please stop deleting my post on crosswind approaches. I know that it does not have any significant relevance to the article but the information above is INACCURATE and I am trying to prove a point.

Mirai Hayashi Jul. 08, 2013 - 03:41PM JST I am not a die hard fan of Asiana nor have I ever flown with them... and I couldn't care less about KAL or any Korean bassed carriers for that matter.

If you have never flown Asiana, how do you know? It's almost like saying I would never buy Korean or American cars without every driving it. You made decisions based on perceptio and is that how you live your life? Every airlines at one point or another had some type of problems and it certainly won't be the last. In 1985, even Japan Airlines had major crash in the mountains of Japan with their 747, killing 520 people. I have no problem with flying Asiana, KAL, China Air, Philippines Air or Japan Air. They all have similar good safety records. I have flown many times with Asiana Air to Tokyo or Kansai area via Seoul. They have good service. However, like all man make products, accidents do happen, but it's much safer than crossing the streets in Tokyo.