Asiana 214 Crash: NTSB Eyes Pilot Actions

Stephen Pope

Tuesday, July 09, 2013 at 07:56 PM ET

Verified

** Courtesy of NTSB**

Key Takeaways:

The Asiana Boeing 777 crashed at SFO due to an unusually nose-high attitude and flying "significantly below" its target airspeed, with the tail section striking the seawall.
Investigators confirmed the jetliner slowed to 103 knots, well under the 137-knot target, despite pilots voicing concerns and attempting a go-around just seconds before impact.
Contributing factors under investigation include the flying pilot's limited experience (43 hours) in the 777 type, the inoperative glideslope at SFO, and the roles of autothrottle and power settings.
The crash resulted in two fatalities and 49 serious injuries, with the aircraft sustaining severe damage and catching fire.

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The Asiana Boeing 777 that crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday was flying in an unusually nose-high attitude on approach and “significantly below” its target airspeed, investigators said yesterday.

The NTSB has confirmed that the jetliner had its gear down, flaps set to 30 degrees and the engines were at idle power — but the 777-200ER was flying far slower than its target airspeed of 137 knots, NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman confirmed. She said one of the pilots voiced his concern about the low airspeed 7 seconds before impact. About 4 seconds before impact the stick shaker activated. One of the pilots called for a go-around 1.5 seconds before impact, but it was too late.