Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was a scheduled transpacific passenger flight from
Incheon International Airport,
South Korea, that crash-landed at its destination,
San Francisco International Airport,
United States, on July 6, 2013. Of the 307 people (291 passengers and 16 crew) aboard the
Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER, one passenger was killed and 182 injured. A second passenger fatality may have resulted from a responding fire vehicle.
[4] As the plane approached the runway, the throttles were set to idle, and the aircraft speed slowed to significantly below the target approach speed. An attempt 1.5 seconds before impact to abort the landing and execute a
go-around was unsuccessful.
It was the second crash and the first fatal crash of a
Boeing 777 since its operational debut in 1995.
[5]
Aircraft[edit]
HL7742, the aircraft involved in the accident, in July 2011
At 11:26 a.m. PDT (18:26 UTC), HL7742
[6] crashed at San Francisco International Airport upon landing, short of runway 28L's threshold, striking the
seawall that projects into
San Francisco Bay.
[12][13][14]
Both engines and the
tail section behind the
aft pressure bulkhead became separated from the aircraft.
[17] The vertical and both horizontal stabilizers came to rest on the runway before the threshold, while the remainder of the fuselage and wings, after spinning in the air, stopped to the left of the runway about 2,000 feet (610 m) from the seawall.
[15] Eyewitnesses described a large brief fireball upon the aircraft landing, and a second large explosion minutes after the impact, with a large, dark plume of smoke rising from the fuselage.
Evacuation slides were deployed on one side of the plane, and were used to evacuate the aircraft,
[17][18] and, despite damage to the aircraft, "many ... were able to walk away on their own".
[19]
Passengers and crew[edit]
There was a crew of four pilots aboard, alternating in pairs. The cockpit crew at the time of the accident were captain Lee Kang-kook, who had 9,793 flying hours, but 43 in the 777,
[27] who was being trained by Lee Jeong-min, who had 12,387 hours of flying experience (at the time of the incident) and 3,220 with the 777.
[28] This was Lee Kang-kook's first landing at San Francisco in this aircraft type, although he was an experienced pilot and had previously landed there in other aircraft including the
Boeing 747. It was his ninth training flight in that model aircraft.
[29][30][31]
San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White confirmed that there were two deaths;
[32] both were 16-year-old female Chinese passport holders
[3][33] with both bodies found outside the aircraft.
[1]Five people were in critical condition.
[1] Nine hospitals in the area accepted a total of 182 injured.
[2] Hayes-White told a subsequent press conference that all persons had been accounted for after reconciliation of two intake points at the airport,
[34] although an earlier report said that 60 persons were unaccounted for.
[2]
Seventy students and teachers traveling to the United States for
summer camp were among the Chinese passengers. Thirty of the students and teachers were from
Shanxi, and the others were from
Zhejiang.
[25] Five of the teachers and 29 of the students were from
Jiangshan High School in Zhejiang traveling together in one group.
[35] 35 of the students were to attend a
West Valley Christian School summer camp. The Shanxi students originated from the city of
Taiyuan.
[36]
One teacher received minor injuries, and the two deceased passengers were from the West Valley camp group.
[25][36]
Aftermath[edit]
The airport was closed for about five hours after the crash.
[12][17][18] Flights headed for San Francisco were diverted to the other
major airports in the
San Francisco Bay Area, or to
Sacramento,
Los Angeles or
Seattle.
[37] By 3:30 p.m. PDT (22:30 UTC), runways 01L/19R and 01R/19L were reopened; the runway of the accident (10R/28L) and the one in parallel to it (10L/28R) remained closed.
[12][18] About 24 hours later, the parallel runway (10L/28R) was reopened.
[38]
Asiana continues to operate its Seoul-to-San Francisco route as Flight 214.
[11]
Testimony[edit]
Several passengers recalled noticing the plane's unusual proximity to the
Bay, appearing as "walls of water"
[25] out of the left and right windows, before the engines were powered up in the final moments before impact.
[39][40]
Upon collision, oxygen masks were said to have deployed immediately. There were also reports of electrical sparking inside the cabin after the aircraft came to rest. Some passengers sitting at the rear of the aircraft escaped through the hole left by the missing tail section.
[41]
Flight attendants were initially instructed to hold off evacuating the aircraft by the cockpit in the initial moments after the crash. When the evacuation order was given, the crew began rapidly evacuating passengers. According to a flight attendant, many of the Chinese passengers who sat near the third exit of the plane could not initially understand the evacuation instructions due to a language barrier.
[42]
Upon opening, two of the inflatable chutes expanded into the cabin rather than out onto the tarmac. The first chute, which blocked the forward right exit, nearly suffocated a flight attendant and was deflated by a pilot with a "crash ax" from the cockpit. The second chute malfunction occurred toward the center of the aircraft near a fire and pinned a second flight attendant. It was eventually deflated with a dinner knife by a co-pilot.
[42]
A fire erupted in the cabin near the 10th row partway through the evacuation and was extinguished by a co-pilot.
[42]
The crew also aided several passengers to the exits who were unable to escape on their own, and a pilot physically carried out one passenger who sustained a leg injury.
[42]
Investigation[edit]
The flight data recorder (left) and cockpit voice recorder (right) recovered from the aircraft
According to the NTSB, the weather was fair and the aircraft was cleared for a visual approach. There is no indication yet of any mechanical problem.
[44]Preliminary indications suggest the plane came in too short and hit the
seawall as it attempted to land.
[17] The NTSB said it appeared that the pilots were flying too slowly on
final approach and the throttles were set to idle.
[45] Preliminary data from the FDR determined that the plane had an approach speed "significantly below" its target of 137 knots (254 km/h; 158 mph), and that one of the pilots called for an increase in speed about 7 seconds before impact.
[9][46] At an elevation of 125 feet the aircraft speed had dropped to 112 knots at 8 seconds before impact. It reached a minimum speed of 103 knots (34 knots below the target speed) 3 seconds before impact. The sound of the
stick shaker (warning of imminent
stall) could be heard about 4 seconds before impact on the
cockpit voice recorder.
[9] The crew called for a go-around 1.5 seconds before impact. The FDR showed that throttles were advanced several seconds prior to impact, and that the engines appeared to respond normally.
[9][47] At impact the aircraft speed had increased to 106
knots.
[48]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Botelho, Greg (July 7, 2013). "2 die, 305 survive after airliner crashes, burns at San Francisco airport". CNN. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Welch, William; Swartz, Jon M.; Strauss, Gary (July 6, 2013). "2 confirmed dead in San Francisco Airport crash". USA Today. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ a b "Asiana Crisis Management System". Asiana Airlines. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "SF Fire Probes Whether Truck Ran Over Asiana Crash Victim". Nbcbayarea.com. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
- ^ a b Kim, Jack; Pomeroy, Robin (July 6, 2013). "Asiana plane carried 291 passengers, 16 crew: airline". Reuters. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ a b "Asiana 777 (AAR214) crashes upon landing at SFO". FlightAware. July 6, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ "HL7742 Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-28E(ER) - cn 29171 / ln 553". Planespotters.net. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ "Asiana Plane Crash Lands: 'No Engine Problems'". Sky News. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f NTSB press briefing on July 7, 2013 Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ Stagis, Julie. "Pratt & Whitney Engines Powered Asiana Airlines Plane". Hartford Courant. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ a b "HL-7742 ✈ 06-Jul-2013 ✈ RKSI / ICN - KSFO ✈ FlightAware". Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c Hradecky, Simon (July 7, 2013). "Accident: Asiana B772 at San Francisco on Jul 6th 2013, touched down short of the runway, broke up and burst into flames". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ Arkin, Daniel (July 6, 2013). "Boeing 777 crashes while landing at San Francisco airport". NBC News. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ Somaiya, Ravi (July 6, 2013). "Plane Crashes on Landing in San Francisco". The New York Times. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ a b "Where Asiana Flight 214 Came to Rest". The New York Times. July 6, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "San Francisco crash Boeing 'tried to abort landing'". BBC News. July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Boeing 777 plane crash-lands at San Francisco airport". BBC News. July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c Botelho, Greg; Ahlers, Mike M. (July 6, 2013). "Airline's Boeing 777 crash lands at San Francisco International Airport". CNN. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ Onishi, Norimitsu; Somaiya, Ravi (July 7, 2013). "Victims of Plane Crash are Identified as Two Chinese Students". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "KSFO San Francisco Intl". PilotWeb. Federal Aviation Administration. Archived from the original on July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013. "06/005 SFO navigation instrument landing system Runway 28L glide path out of service with effect from or effective from 1306011400-1308222359"
- ^ "Weather at incident time (METAR)". EU: Navlost. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ Pilot in deadly plane crash had no experience landing 777 in San Francisco
- ^ "Asiana jet crash further tarnishes Korean carrier's safety record". Reuters. July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Press Release for Incident Involving Asiana Flight OZ 214 - July 7, 2013" (Press release). Asiana Airlines. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e "Two dead in Asiana plane crash are Chinese citizens, identified as teenage girls". South China Morning Post. Reuters. July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Victims of Plane Crash Are Identified as 2 Chinese Students". The New York Times. July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Pilot was at his first landing with a B777". PlaneCrashes.org. July 8, 2013.
- ^ "Asiana Airlines crash: The pilots". ITV. July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Asiana Airlines Crash: Pilot Was in 9th Training Flight for Boeing 777". ABC News. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "NTSB: Pilots attempted to abort landing 1.5 seconds before impact". CNN. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Asiana Says Pilot of Crashed Plane Was in Training". New York Times. July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "The 2 victims were heading for a camp". Planecrashes.org. July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Asiana Airlines Crash: At a glance". CNN. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Two dead, dozens injured in Boeing 777 crash". Oakland, CA: KTVU-TV. July 6, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ Yang, Sunny (July 7, 2013), "Asiana crash deaths ID'd as 2 Chinese teens", USA Today (The Associated Press), retrieved July 7, 2013, "A teacher told Chinese television that there were 34 people traveling in the Jiangshan Middle School group — five teachers and 29 students"
- ^ a b Hunt, Katie. "Girls killed in crash were headed for camp." CNN. July 7, 2013. Retrieved on July 8, 2013.
- ^ "Plane crash at San Francisco airport, 2 dead". CBS News. Associated Press. July 6, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ Laura J. Nelson, Lee Romney (2013-07-07). "Third of four runways reopens at SFO, officials say". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-07-07.
- ^ William M. Welch, Chris Woodyard, Doug Stanglin, ed. (July 8, 2013). "NTSB: Jet was traveling below target speed before crash". USA Today. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ "Pilot was flying a 777 into San Francisco for first time". CBS Interactive. July 8, 2013. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ Jason Dearen, Joan Lowy, ed. (July 7, 2013) [July 6, 2013]. "Officials probe why crashed SF jet flew too slow". Seattle Times. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Victoria Kim (July 8, 2013). "Asiana flight attendant, last person off jet, describes ordeal". Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ Yoon, Julie; Bruton, F. Brinley; DeLuca, Matthew (July 7, 2013). "NTSB: Officials recover black boxes from San Francisco crash site".NBC News. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Terror on Jet: Seeing Water, Not Runway". New York Times. 7 July 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Bowens, Dan (July 7, 2013). "NTSB: Asiana flight flew too slow before crash". MyFox New York. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "San Francisco crash Boeing 'tried to abort landing'". BBC News. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
- ^ "Asiana Airlines Flight 214 tried to abort landing". CBS News. July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ Asiana Crash: Plane Was 34 Knots Below Target Speed, NTSB Says
- ^ a b Hurd, Cheryl; Dwyer, Diane (July 7, 2013). "Fire Truck May Have Run Over Asiana Plane Crash Victim". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ "CBS/AP/ July 7, 2013, 8:21 PM Coroner: Officials probing if rescuers ran over San Francisco plane crash victim". CBS News. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Girl who died after plane crash may have been struck by emergency vehicle". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
- ^ "San Francisco plane crash: Did rescue vehicle run over one of Chinese students from Boeing 777 wreck?". Nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
External links[edit]