Asiana 777 Crashes at SFO

[NickPeterman]

Not much news yet, looks like it came down short of the runway. The photos Imhave seen do not look good. Prayers to all involved.

[NYCA News]

NYCAviation:

BREAKING: Plane Crash at SFO (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nycaviation/~3/xvfN7aj2jJY/)

Reports are coming in of a plane crash taking place at San Francisco International airport, involving an Asiana 777 that crashed on landing.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nycaviation/~4/xvfN7aj2jJY
[Click to Read Full Article (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nycaviation/~3/xvfN7aj2jJY/)]

[captmjk16]

From the video I'm seeing it looks like she came in very low and clipped her tail on the rocks/breakwater at the end of the runway.

Thoughts and prayers for all involved, thankfully it does appear as though there's some survivors.

UPDATE: According to a former senior FAA official, he's heard from "good sources" that everyone got off safely, let's pray that his source is correct.

[Gerard]

Turned to CNN on Sirius radio in my car when I heard about this and one of the first eyewitneses they talked to was a guy plane spotting in a nearby hotel.

[Gerard]

And you have to love the pasengers who after deploying down the rescue chutes stopped to take pictures and go on Twitter!!

[Idlewild]

Judging by the live news-feeds it looks like the ceiling/top of the fuselage was on fire before it landed. Sounds silly, but, I wonder if a majority of the empennage was lost beforehand as well. I remember when the top of a Saudia L-1011 blew its top of 30 years back when it landed as well. I believe a faulty coffee maker or some such item caused the fire.

[Big Tim #70]

Judging by the live news-feeds it looks like the ceiling/top of the fuselage was on fire before it landed. Sounds silly, but, I wonder if a majority of the empennage was lost beforehand as well. I remember when the top of a Saudia L-1011 blew its top of 30 years back when it landed as well. I believe a faulty coffee maker or some such item caused the fire.


I disagree.

The first twittered pictures don't show any evidence of the ceiling being on fire. The first shots show that there is a fire burning on the right side. The fire appears to have extended to the passenger cabin & through the top of the fuselage.

[captmjk16]

Latest report indicates possibly 2 fatalities and roughly 50 injuries (burn/smoke inhalation).

[neurodave757]

The second I saw the video of the runway threshold and back, I figured he landed quite a bit short. He may have had a mechanical issue in the last seconds prior to touchdown, or he just blew the landing. And considering the fact he came in hard, I'd say it is probably the latter. Maybe he began to stall at the last seconds? Some people say he hit the tail, and then tried to take off again. We can only assume, I suppose.

[NIKV69]

In good wx and visibility how did he not make the runway? If it was fuel why no emergency call to ATC? Everything is pointing to sudden loss of power.

[Gerard]

Latest report indicates possibly 2 fatalities and roughly 50 injuries (burn/smoke inhalation).

Interesting CNN not talking injuries though their crawl saw USCG medevaced person to hospital and AP report on KGO saying 2 dead, 61 injured. And FOX News not certain on that either. They are all awaiting "Official" reports but with Twitter, FB etc its hard to not have info get out.

[Vinny Ohare]

Amazing that there are only 2 fatalities being reported. I am guessing it will be easy for them to get the flight data recorder?

[RomNYC]

And you have to love the pasengers who after deploying down the rescue chutes stopped to take pictures and go on Twitter!!

THANK YOU! One guy is even a "hero" for turning down a CNN interview after he tweeted his junk all afternoon. Hundreds of simple-minded idiots on Twitter are in love with him for not seeking publicity. Then WHY THE HELL do you post your crash scene photos on Twitter? Keep it to yourself man, only the NTSB needs to know what you know.

[RomNYC]

In good wx and visibility how did he not make the runway? If it was fuel why no emergency call to ATC? Everything is pointing to sudden loss of power.

Or major pilot error?

[PhilDernerJr]

THANK YOU! One guy is even a "hero" for turning down a CNN interview after he tweeted his junk all afternoon. Hundreds of simple-minded idiots on Twitter are in love with him for not seeking publicity. Then WHY THE HELL do you post your crash scene photos on Twitter? Keep it to yourself man, only the NTSB needs to know what you know.

I really disagree with you. CNN has been a reporting massacre when it comes to aviation...he probably knows they would just distort everything and make it out to be something different than what it is. He chose wisely. Twitter has proven to be a move reliable news source than any mainstream media outlet.

[RomNYC]

I really disagree with you. CNN has been a reporting massacre when it comes to aviation...he probably knows they would just distort everything and make it out to be something different than what it is. He chose wisely. Twitter has proven to be a move reliable news source than any mainstream media outlet.

Will not debate how awful mainstream media are, no question. Now, jumping to the conclusion that Twitter is MORE reliable, can't follow you there Phil. The guy posted his pics, before he had any idea what happened besides the fact that he survived a plane crash. Seeing a burning wreckage might be "news", but it certainly isn't "information".

Besides these considerations (doesn't really matter if we disagree), I hate the fact that people are losing all sense in such circumstances nowadays. Your first reflex is to take photos of the plane crash you survived, when others might be injured 3 feet from where you stand? When you could possibly give moral comfort to someone in need? The guy is a hypocrite idiot as far as I'm concerned. And people call him a "hero" (check his twitter, @Eunner)? Please.

I'll repeat myself, you don't want publicity, don't post it.

EDIT: I remember a certain former member of these forums who posted pictures of the Air France A380 clipping that CRJ, a federal investigation. He got banned. Now we're praising some other guy for doing the same, for the sake of RELIABLE news? Let's try to be consistent around here.

[NIKV69]

Or major pilot error?

That would be an understatement. In perfect wx and visibility that was a bad miss short. I think any pilot worth anything would have had enough time to thrust the levers forward and go around in time when they saw they were that off.

[Gerard]

THANK YOU! One guy is even a "hero" for turning down a CNN interview after he tweeted his junk all afternoon. Hundreds of simple-minded idiots on Twitter are in love with him for not seeking publicity. Then WHY THE HELL do you post your crash scene photos on Twitter? Keep it to yourself man, only the NTSB needs to know what you know.

"Hero" really? That is not a term I would apply to him for not seeking publicity!! Thats fine he wants to avoid the media but by taking that picture (which BTW I thought was pretty cool as an "on scene" moment, to be honest with you) he leaves himself open to the media hungry for those eyewitness reports!! How he deals with the media bombardment for info is up to him.

[moose135]

EDIT: I remember a certain former member of these forums who posted pictures of the Air France A380 clipping that CRJ, a federal investigation. He got banned. Now we're praising some other guy for doing the same, for the sake of RELIABLE news? Let's try to be consistent around here.
He wasn't a passenger posting photos he had taken following the incident. He was an employee posting photos taken at work inside a hangar not accessible to the public. Two very different things.

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I had just walked away uninjured from a major plane crash, and there wasn't anyone nearby in obvious need of assistance, I'd damn well take photos of it.

[Gerard]

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I had just walked away uninjured from a major plane crash, and there wasn't anyone nearby in obvious need of assistance, I'd damn well take photos of it.

LMAO:biggrin::cool: I'm with you on this one!!

[nssd70]

I met a guy last year who was a passenger on the LOT flight that belly landed,and he took several photos after he got off the plane.

Doug

[Delta777LR]

Sad to see that this was the first ever Boeing 777 crash which took 2 lives. from all the images I saw this afternoon, there was many odds about this crash. Pilot error is possible, cant say that though, for the nose being too high striking the tail, something wrong with that picture

[teriyakisoz]

Interview with a crash victim from the NBC affiliate with a video of the debris field on the runway ....

News link: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Flight--214499761.html

[captmjk16]

I'm with Moose, if able I'd be snapping away if not taking video, you never know how important those images could be in helping figure out what happened.

As usual the media outlets have been insanely ridiculous in their reporting, "this man is an expert pilot with dozens of hours in single engine planes" then the guy proceeds to tell them he doesn't know much about airliners as they grill him... Early on the anchors couldn't seem to identify an engine or a tail on one of the networks.

[stratoduck]

for what it is worth, here is remark from a person who saw the approach:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23214500

and here is the audio clip of the tower:

http://soberbuildengineer-com.s3.amazonaws.com/AAR214-KSFO-Crash.mp3

now that's a good controller. suddenly he had two jobs, dispatching of the emergency equipment, and maintaining his engagement with his duties as the tower controller.

[NIKV69]

Sad to see that this was the first ever Boeing 777 crash which took 2 lives. from all the images I saw this afternoon, there was many odds about this crash. Pilot error is possible, cant say that though, for the nose being too high striking the tail, something wrong with that picture

I thought the same thing but it's sure looking like CFIT. The CVR will tell the tale. If you hear "too low! Terrain!" then not much of a secret.

We have a member here from Korea here who has a sister that was flying home to SFO. She lost two front teeth and her husband broke his collar bone. It is so surreal.

[CX777]

R.I.P. for the 2 lives lost and hope for speedy recovery for the injured.

Radio Altimeter settings will be interesting to watch... As PWs would have power down (flare stage of the landing) well short of runway thrushold, and PF (pilot flying) realizing @ last moment about below the beam bar (ILS was inop) situation, attempts to go around and the tail strikes.

In any event, this could have been so worse if they were mere few feets lower at the strike point. Fuselage took immense G forces and did not over pitch down (could have flipped). OZ crew performed well trained evac in specified 90 sec or less with 1/2 exits available.

Raj

[Gerard]

The guy posted his pics, before he had any idea what happened besides the fact that he survived a plane crash. Seeing a burning wreckage might be "news", but it certainly isn't "information".


Actually his pic and those that others took while fleeing the crash are "information" for the investigating teams!!
And its a sign of the times how social media had the information about this crash out before mainstream media. I was over by the Dave & Busters parking lot off of 1-9 at FRG awaiting the departure of their L-39 for a
few flybys. Earlier their Corsair had done the same. I was sitting in my car to get a break from the heat checking my FB NewsFeed when I saw a post "An Asiana 777 has crashed off the end of 28R at SFO" then seconds later a second post of a picture from across the water of heavy smoke coming from the downed airliner. Both posts were put up by someone I know who is in the airline industry so I knew this info was quite reliable. 3 minutes later I turned on 1010 WINS for their headlines at 3PM. They were still talking about the heat wave. At 3:20 still the heat. From 1010 at 3PM I switched over to CNN feed on my Sirius radio. They were talking about Egypt and in fact they didnt start to break this story until almost 15 minutes after I saw the first post on Facebook!! Dont have Twitter but I can imagine it was also blowing up over this.
I mean think about it getting a twitter post from a friend that reads "I just crashed landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm ok, Surreal...." Yes very surreal!!

[Delta777LR]

FDR, CVR are at the labs in DC now

[PropPro]

An NTSB spokesperson (a person assumed to be responsible and professional) and Asiana Airlines (an entity assumed to be responsible and professional) are BOTH saying there doesnt appear to have been anything wrong with the aircraft prior to this incident. Asiana SPECIFICALLY says there didnt appear to be anything wrong WITH THE ENGINES prior to the crash. NEITHER have been able to examine the flight recorders or even speak to the pilots on an official level. I would expect this from elsewhere, but not from those who are supposed to have level heads. The world is obsessed with assigning blame for EVERYTHING before ANYTHING is known. If the pilots are at fault, then let it be decided by process, not by speculation, especially from those whos job it is to get to the facts. Ridiculous.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/dead-passengers-identified-chinese-schoolgirls-article-1.1392130

[Zee71]

CNN is showning a video of the entire crash of Asiana that was captured. WOW

[gonzalu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6hSZjxYoVo

[Vinny Ohare]

Amazing video. I am guessing the pilot of the plane on Taxiway has a good idea of what happened being so close and all.

[Gerard]

Amazing video. I am guessing the pilot of the plane on Taxiway has a good idea of what happened being so close and all.

I believe that was a United 747 that was holding!! That must have been crazy to see that and thankfully no debris impacted their plane!!

[Vinny Ohare]

The pilot of the United 747 had to hear a strange sound and watching that plane come in.

My question is does a pilot of a taxing plane like that watch the other plane coming in or is he too busy at hat point preparing for takeoff?

[727C47]

at that point all the checklists are done, save the takeoff checklist, your head is outside, you are watching something like that develop with a growing sense of disbelief. God have mercy.

[gonzalu]

The pilot of the United 747 had to hear a strange sound and watching that plane come in.

My question is does a pilot of a taxing plane like that watch the other plane coming in or is he too busy at hat point preparing for takeoff?

Pilots most definitely like watching other pilots do their craft, as well as watching the planes they fly, fly (sic) ... When the Boeing Experimental 787 came into Newark for the first time, two pilots requested to hold short when they had plenty of time to leave before it arrived, just so they could watch it come in.

I would be very surprised if at least one passenger on the plane had their cell phone pointing out the window for snaps or video. Would be probably the best vantage point.

Also agree that it is a miracle the plane didn't venture off far enough to affect the sitting B744!! All in all, considering what could have happened, it is still a MIRACLE on the Bay!

[PhilDernerJr]

The pilot of the United 747 had to hear a strange sound and watching that plane come in.

My question is does a pilot of a taxing plane like that watch the other plane coming in or is he too busy at hat point preparing for takeoff?

The ATC recording actually has the United aircraft saying they needed a little time before departing, so it sounded like they were busy with something in the cockpit at the time. I wonder what they saw.

[JHNA57]

The latest I heard on Fox News was that the 2 fatalities may have injuries consistent with being struck by the responding emergency vehicles!

[yankees368]

Incredibly sad, if true.

[Aviation.High.Guy]

The latest I heard on Fox News was that the 2 fatalities may have injuries consistent with being struck by the responding emergency vehicles!

Jeeze, I wonder if the two were thrown from the plane and the vehicles didn't see them laying there. That's horrible.

[gonzalu]

I won't buy that until I hear official word. I can;t imagine rescue crews just running over bodies... the would have to have been completely covered in dirt or something for them not to see them or the drivers of the vehicles involved should be fired at the very least. That is simply unacceptable. Ever heard of a NYC Bravest running over a victom of the fire they are responding to? I am disgusted by this just hearing about it. Really hope it's not true!!

[megatop412]

'Asiana Flight 214 pilot had 43 hours of training', in large bolded font, now adorns the CNN homepage. It's bigger than the font they used last week when it said 'Coup in Egypt'. Nothing like sensationalism to build up page hits. They make it sound like the guy just came out of a Skylane and sat down in the 777. Gotta love the media!

[moose135]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/08/us-asiana-korea-idUSBRE96701620130708


Asiana Airlines Inc said the pilot in charge of landing the Boeing 777 that crash-landed at San Francisco's airport on Saturday was training for the long-range plane and that it was his first flight to the airport with the jet.
It was Lee Kang-kook's maiden flight to the airport with the jet...Lee, who started his career at Asiana as an intern in 1994, has 9,793 hours of flying experience, but only 43 hours with the Boeing 777 jet.

Co-pilot Lee Jeong-min, who has 3,220 hours of flying experience with the Boeing 777 and a total of 12,387 hours of flying experience, was helping Lee Kang-kook in the landing, the spokeswoman said.

[Big Tim #70]

I'm a firefighter & an EMT. I also have a paying gig shooting for a few publications, (Newsday, Fire News, First Responder Network, etc). If I'm on a scene, I'll render first aid before the other responders get on scene. Once the locals get there, I grab the camera and shoot away.

To Moose's point, if I'm in my fire district & I'm on my rigs, or working for the fire department, it's not appropriate for me to shoot scenes. I never have and never will as my job is to aid and serve, not to photograph.

I agree with Moose 100%. There is nothing wrong with a civilian capturing something like that. Hopefully, it's a once (or rather never) in a lifetime opportunity.

[megatop412]

From thread #1 about this crash over on anet, reply #22: "NYCAviation is reporting fuel problems. Perhaps fuel exhaustion?"

Did I miss that in this thread here, or was that totally made up? I re-read this thread and didn't see anyone here talking about them running out of gas.

[Vinny Ohare]

at that point all the checklists are done, save the takeoff checklist, your head is outside, you are watching something like that develop with a growing sense of disbelief. God have mercy.

Thank you, I was thinking that was the case. I feel bad for those pilots and passengers that saw it to as they are probably reliving that moment over and over again. The pilots could see what was coming but the passengers on that side of the plane must of had some fireball going past them at that point.

What would the next step be shut off the engines and wait for instructions? Maybe drive further down the runway to get away from it? I would like to hear what they were being told what to do.

[yankees368]

From thread #1 about this crash over on anet, reply #22: "NYCAviation is reporting fuel problems. Perhaps fuel exhaustion?"

Did I miss that in this thread here, or was that totally made up? I re-read this thread and didn't see anyone here talking about them running out of gas.

That was one of the very early reports, which was in something I retweeted in the NYCA account. Obviously, that was not true and never made it into any of my articles.

[gonzalu]

Apparently 43 hours on a 777-200 is worse than 42? or 1? How about this new rule, how about all pilots must have 12,000 hours or more of experience behind the stick of any plane they are about to fly for the first time... errr... huh?

THer will always be ONE person who does it for THE FIRST TIME. Regardless... Of course, we can always have the airlines make pilots fly empty planes for a year or two, once a day, and then get into flying a plane full of pax. But, it will still be their first time with a plane full of people.

While this is horrible, I can't imagine the Pilot or Co-Pilot wanting this to happen or even allowing a huge mistake to be made without some sort of warning. So far from the looks of it, pilot error, indeed, but something else should have contributed to it. There were two brains on that cockpit, both with experience in general. VFR rules likely meant their experience behind the 777-200 mattered less than their OVERALL experience. I can't imagine they simply let their guard down.

[Vinny Ohare]

Manny the more I hear about this, the more I think it could be a small combination of things. Just not one thing, it just doesn't make sense.

When you hear these retired pilots talking on CNN all you hear is the "I have no idea" in their voice. You can tell they are trying to figure it out but it doesn't make sense to them either.

I am sure once the NTSB gets more details they will figure this one out and it wont take as long as usual.

[Speedbird1]

Just went to WikiNews this morning. They report that smoke was reported coming from the aircraft after departure from Incheon. No other agency reported this. If true, this could be very important or it could be nothing. Another reason why we spotters should be encouraged to take photos. If smoke were emanating from the aircraft and was captured by a photographer at Incheon, this would greatly aid the investigation.

[NIKV69]

Manny the more I hear about this, the more I think it could be a small combination of things. Just not one thing, it just doesn't make sense.

When you hear these retired pilots talking on CNN all you hear is the "I have no idea" in their voice. You can tell they are trying to figure it out but it doesn't make sense to them either.

I am sure once the NTSB gets more details they will figure this one out and it wont take as long as usual.

CFIT doesn't really involve a combination of things. It involves a crew that flies a perfectly good airplane into the ground, mountain, water, etc because they either weren't flying fast enough or lost sight of where they where.

[moose135]

CFIT doesn't really involve a combination of things. It involves a crew that flies a perfectly good airplane into the ground, mountain, water, etc because they either weren't flying fast enough or lost sight of where they where.
It's never that simple. There are almost always a series of things that happen that culminate in a crash, which is why they have a team of investigators looking at everything involved.

[Zee71]

Yup.....all the facts need to be gathered and collaborated. Obviously the media jumps to their own conclusions.

[NIKV69]

Yup.....all the facts need to gathered and collaborated. Obviously the media jumps to their own conclusions.

Sure, but I get the feeling in a year or so when the official probable cause is released with the animation it will be the same. Pilot let air speed decay to the point lift was lost. Controlled flight into terrain.

[PhilDernerJr]

My complete GUESS is one or a combination of wrong altimeter setting and disconnected auto throttles and didn't see loss in speed.
-

[Gerard]

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbc-news/52423611#52423611

New video showing passengers fleeing the plane.
BTw I believe I heard that the United 747 that was sitting there couldnt be moved for about 2 hours. And I did read a story, cant seem to find it, that the United pilots were giving reports to the Tower about
what was going on. Must be LiveATC tapes of that.
And we must give credit to the controllers on managing all the planes inbound to SFO and getting them safely somewhere else!! That would be an interesting read!!

[NIKV69]

Incredible video!

[RomNYC]

If video is going to be NTSB's best ally in the future, people HAVE GOT to learn how to shoot.

[megatop412]

If video is going to be NTSB's best ally in the future, people HAVE GOT to learn how to shoot.

Not unless they're paid professionals they don't. In the heat of the moment, when sh*t is going down and your hands are shaking, I would consider myself lucky that I could even get my phone in video mode, let alone shoot straight.

[RomNYC]

Not unless they're paid professionals they don't. In the heat of the moment, when sh*t is going down and your hands are shaking, I would consider myself lucky that I could even get my phone in video mode, let alone shoot straight.

You know, in the heat of the moment, I wouldn't even THINK of grabbing my camera. But it seems that it is just me around here/anywhere nowadays. Oh well...

[USAF Pilot 07]

Manny the more I hear about this, the more I think it could be a small combination of things. Just not one thing, it just doesn't make sense.



In most aircraft mishaps there's always a combination or "chain of events" that ultimately lead to the mishap. It's why a much greater emphasis has been placed on CRM in the past few decades and why we talk about getting all crew-members involved - especially during critical phases of flight - you never know who may be the one to see something off and speak up and break that chain of events. It will be interesting to see whether all 4 pilots were up front for the approach and landing, or whether it was just the two senior guys up there.

In this case, there are several facts we know of (without even knowing the full contents of the CVR/FDR). To list a few:
1) An approach into a major airport surrounded by very busy airspace.
2) ILS glideslope and PAPIs both out of service.
3) A veteran pilot with something like 10,000 total hours but very new to the 777 (reports say it was his first landing ever in it).
4) Visual perception issues associated with shooting an approach completely over water to a runway surrounded by land (and possible perception issues from a pilot perspective based on previous aircraft flown).
5) A call for "more power" on very short final.
6) Stick shaker actuation with airspeed speed "well below" Vapp.
7) Both throttles left in the idle position.
8) Very favorable weather conditions.

The question is, how did they end up in the situation they got into? Not one of these factors alone should have caused them to do so.

Was it due to some other or outside factor we don't yet know about?

A bad landing is usually the result of a bad and/or unstable approach. How was this crew's approach? Were they behind the aircraft at all? Were they slammed dunked into the airport or given ample space and time to establish a normal approach? Were they established on a 3* glideslope configured for landing at 1,000'AGL? At 500'AGL? If not, what did they look like? Was there some other factor (internally or externally) distracting them from flying the airplane and focusing on the approach? What kind of automation were they using to fly the approach? Was it functioning properly? I don't know the 777 systems, but I assume they would have been able to load a visual approach into the FMS which would have given them some type of glidepath indication assuming the correct altimeter setting was inserted. Was this done? If not were they backing up the visual approach with any other approach (i.e. GPS)?

At what point during the approach the autothrottles were disengaged?
Sometimes the over-reliance on automated aircraft systems leads to a poorer crosscheck or complete forgetfulness of the associated system. It can be very easy to disengage the autothrottles and then get sidetracked with something else - whether it be inside or outside of the cockpit - and completely forget about them, especially since for almost the entirety of the flight they are on, doing theirs (and your) job with little thought required.

These are just some of the questions I would like to know the answer to before crucifying the pilots and jumping to broad and somewhat unfounded conclusions like many news sources have done.

I have my personal theory on what caused them to get into the situation they did (along with every other pilot, flightsim expert and person that stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night) but we will see what the data and NTSB reveal in the days and months to come.

While, I'm saddened two people lost their lives in this incident and so many more injured both mentally and physically for life, I'm very grateful so many were able to survive.

[RomNYC]

While, I'm saddened two people lost their lives in this incident and so many more injured both mentally and physically for life, I'm very grateful so many were able to survive.

Which is exactly why I don't understand all the numerous "this is a sad day for aviation" comments I have heard all over the place since this happened. ONLY two people lost their lives, one is presumably not even a result of the crash. What I've seen online, from both avgeeks and avnoobs, sometimes sounded like the loss of the aircraft was sadder than everything else. Planes are safer than ever before, can we at least enjoy that?

[Vinny Ohare]

Thanks for such a detailed post!

[NIKV69]

Watching the presser. I believe Chair Hersman said the Auto Throttles were armed.

[yankees368]

Most recent info from today's update: http://www.nycaviation.com/2013/07/breaking-plane-crash-at-sfo/#.UdybkW12mOB

[USAF Pilot 07]

Most recent info from today's update: http://www.nycaviation.com/2013/07/breaking-plane-crash-at-sfo/#.UdybkW12mOB

Interesting info; will be interesting to see if the CVR/FDR back up the crew's account. Also, it appears the PAPIs were operational (unlike I first thought was reported).

I'm curious as to whether or not the autothrottles were in fact engaged (the crew reports they were "armed").. I would imagine the 777 has some sort of speed protection associated with the AT that wouldn't allow airspeed to decrease below Vmm (or Vapp in this case)... I think my theory is becoming more and more plausible.

[emshighway]

Someone Pranked San Francisco TV Station Into Reporting Fabricated Names Of Asiana Pilots

A local Fox affiliate, the San Francisco powerhouse station KTVU, is dealing with the fallout of a major error on Friday. During their noon broadcast, a report on the deadly Asiana Airlines crash took a turn for the unintentionally offensive when they broadcast the names of pilots in charge of that flight. The mangled Asian-sounding names were, in fact, thinly-disguised expletives mocking the sentiments expressed by the crash victims and their families.

The supposed names of the crash victims broadcast on KTVU included “Sum Ting Wong,” “Ho Lee Fuk,” and “Bang Ding Ow.”

A KTVU anchor later apologized for the error. She said that the names were inaccurate in spite of the fact that a National Transpiration Safety Board spokesperson confirming them.
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/p320x320/1069325_10151703945763118_248461197_n.jpg

[Derf]

A third person has died from injuries sustained in last week's crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214

CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/12/us/asiana-airlines-crash/index.html)

[727C47]

Which is exactly why I don't understand all the numerous "this is a sad day for aviation" comments I have heard all over the place since this happened. ONLY two people lost their lives, one is presumably not even a result of the crash. What I've seen online, from both avgeeks and avnoobs, sometimes sounded like the loss of the aircraft was sadder than everything else. Planes are safer than ever before, can we at least enjoy that?

even one loss is too much, this was a tragedy

[Derf]

A very good video
LINK (http://sfist.com/2013/07/12/animated_recreation_of_asiana_fligh.php)

[Zee71]

Very good animation