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US investigators interview Asiana Airlines pilots

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By MARTHA MENDOZA AND JOAN LOWY

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Clearly pilot error, came in too steep and slow. Negligent manslaughter?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I am kind of surprise that this kind of accident can still happen with all the electronic and computers on board, what is the point to ring a stall alarm if there is no time to push the engine to get trust ? Can the computers compute and detect that your approach is going to fail before it actually does ?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Yes, it might be a pilot error (amplified by cultural issues) - some air crashes happened due to the unability of pilots to realize and prevent the stall (Air France Flight 447 in 2009, Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 in 2009, XL Airways Flight 888T in 2008, Pulkovo Flight 612 in 2006, Vladivostok Air Flight 352 in 2001). B777 of British Airways Flight 38 crash-landed very similarly short of the runway in Heatrow in 2008 due to fuel starvation problem - partially frozen fuel-oil heat exchangers of the Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. However, the B777 of the crashed Asiana flight was powered by Pratt&Whitney engines that are not known to have such problems.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The pilots throttled the engines down to idle to dump altitude to get back on the glide path and ended up dumping too much airspeed. Putting engines in idle, meaning they'll require precious seconds to spool back up if you suddenly need thrust, is suicidal at such low altitudes and absolutely negligent. They placed a dangerous approach for an on-time arrival as priority over taking another turn in the pattern for another (safer) approach and possible late arrival and their passengers paid the ultimate price. It's not looking good for Lee Jeong-min and Lee Gang-guk...

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Watch the video of the crash and you'll be absolutely amazed that a third of the passengers didn't need to be hospitalized. Just amazing.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Looks as if the Koreans are blaming the airport site for faulty equipment due to expansion construction at the airport and criticizing the US side not manning up to accept the blame. LoL

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0710&f=national_0710_023.shtml

6 ( +6 / -0 )

So if these Koreans want to blame SFO?? How come thousands and thousands of other flights have had NO problems, but these idiot fools from Asiana managed to crash and burn on a beautiful, fine, sunny day with almost no wind blowing?? Why?? Because these Korean pilots should not have been training this guy on this 777!! Now they paid by having at least 2 dead and many more injured!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Yea, blaming the airport for a pilot's inability to look at their own speed gauge and altimeters. They knew the ILS at SFO was down, so they should have been even more aware of their surroundings.

Aviation experts have been saying that even with all the advanced electronics in modern planes, the pilots need to know what the electronics are doing and need to look out the damn window. They must ensure the plane is performing to their expectations as if it were a manual landing without any glide indicators.

It was plainly sloppy and criminal piloting. Three supervising pilots in the cockpit and everyone afraid to make a decision that would make them look stupid or offend the other senior pilots. The only thing that may save part of the pilot's reputation is if there was a fault with the speed gauge.

They should have been running through checklists to ensure they had the right speed, flaps, angle, etc.

In this case, it is probably the old adage, too many cooks in the kitchen spoils the meal.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

It's not looking good for Lee Jeong-min and Lee Gang-guk...

Agreed, and a great summary of the whole incident. I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect that at least one of these two is going to decide to make the ultimate atonement.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Maybe they were getting erroneous airspeed indications. I know. Crazy thought, but it is not beyond the realm of possibility.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

We can try to make excuses for these pilots, sure erroneous airspeed etc..but at the end of the day, a professional pilot would know if he or she are coming in too slow or too fast etc...so I do not buy these excuses. How many other BOEING 777s must have landed the day before, the week before, heck that same day into SFO with out any incidents?? But these Asiana pilots screw up royally and who do they have to blame??

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

but at the end of the day, a professional pilot would know if he or she are coming in too slow or too fast

Oh really? You know because you are a professional pilot, right?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Agreed, pilot error and also partly to blame, airport for keeping a runway open that has inoperable landing aides. So blame lies on both.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

I don't think so. The pilot should have been fully aware that he was too low from what he could see out of the cockpit. I believe it is one of the first things you learn during flight training and the captain is said to be a seasoned pilot. It was a calm day, fair sky with no winds there was no way he couldn't have known. It's just lame to blame faluty equipment in conditions like this.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I'll explain what happened. It was probably pilot error. They had thought they had turned on the automatic air throttler which maintains the speed they had programmed in. They had it engaged but forgot to turn it on. But in the meantime, they believed that the computer they had programmed, was doing its job to maintain the proper speed, not knowing that it was not turned on. When they noticed that no, the proper speed wasn't there, they immediately tried to boost the engine, but as you know, it takes a while for the engine to kick in. By then it was too late. Why did they make this elementary mistake? Because they were humans, they always relied on automatic systems, they depended on it so much, that they forgot that it doesn't come on unless you flip the switch. They screwed up, and I'm sure they'll pay for it with their careers. Let's try not to turn this into a racial or ethnic issue, as some here are trying to do here.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Let's try not to turn this into a racial or ethnic issue, as some here are trying to do here.

I don't see anyone trying to do that here. In fact, it is the koreans themselves who are doing that :

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Ashamed+South+Koreans+believe+plane+crash+reflects+poorly+their/8636280/story.html

3 ( +4 / -1 )

mrkobayashi, I was talking about the supposed "news" from a dubious source that Korea is blaming the SF airport for the crash, which is a lie. Look in your own link, do you see any blaming of SF airport? All I see are self blame. And I'm not just talking about the false news that Search China has printed, but also Japanese reactions like these.

http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/07/10/japanese-right-winger-blasts-anti-korean-rallies/tab/comments/?sort_order=desc

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Looks as if the Koreans and NTSB is duking it out with one another with Koreans critisizing NTSB is released information too fast which may hinder the outcome of the investigation speculating that NTSB in trying to protect their own domestic air industry is forcing all blame on the Korean pilot.

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0711&f=national_0711_032.shtml

Chuky don't critisize the source when within the article it states that the news was published on the July 10th edition of the Korean Maeil Business Newspaper.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The NTSB is apologizing for using three-syllable-combinations to make fun of the pilots. NTSB is a government entity. Making fun of the pilots in the middle of the investigation is not helpful.

http://www.google.com/#output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=ntsb+apology+flight+214&oq=ntsb+apology+flight+214&gs_l=hp.3...2894.14881.1.15091.27.23.2.0.0.0.982.11375.0j2j3j4j2j5j6.22.0....0...1c.1.19.hp.EmzG2hF_uP4&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48705608,d.aWM&fp=8f50d46c3b4c0d8e&biw=1280&bih=594

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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