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 San Francisco International Airport while flying significantly below its target airspeed, reaching 103 knots, and in an unusually nose-high attitude.
Investigators confirmed pilots voiced concerns about low airspeed, the stick shaker activated, and a go-around was called too late before the tail struck a sea wall.
Key investigative areas include the glideslope being out, the role of autothrottle and power settings, and the pilot flying the approach having limited experience (43 hours) in the Boeing 777.
The crash resulted in two fatalities and 49 serious injuries as the plane sustained severe damage and caught 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.