Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was a scheduled transpacific passenger flight originating from
Incheon International Airport
Incheon International Airport (IIA; ) (sometimes referred to as Seoul–Incheon International Airport) is the largest airport in South Korea. It is the primary airport serving the Seoul Capital Area and one of the largest and busiest airports ...
near
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
, South Korea. On the morning of July 6, 2013, the
Boeing 777-200ER
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet.
The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...
operating the flight stalled and crashed on
final approach into
San Francisco International Airport in the United States. Of the 307 people on board, 3 died; another 187 were injured, 49 of them seriously.
Among the seriously injured were four flight attendants who were thrown onto the runway while still strapped in their seats when the tail section broke off after striking the
seawall
A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...
short of the runway. It was the first fatal crash of a Boeing 777 since the aircraft type entered service in 1995.
The investigation by the U.S.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the accident was caused by the flight crew's mismanagement of the airplane's final approach. Deficiencies in Boeing's documentation of complex flight control systems and in
Asiana Airlines
Asiana Airlines Inc. ( ) is a South Korean airline headquartered in Seoul.[Home]
." Asiana Airlines. Retrieved 13 September 2 ...
' pilot training were also cited as contributory factors.
Aircraft
The Boeing 777-200ER,
registration
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), th ...
HL7742,
was powered by two
Pratt and Whitney PW4090 engines.
It was delivered new to
Asiana Airlines
Asiana Airlines Inc. ( ) is a South Korean airline headquartered in Seoul.[Home]
." Asiana Airlines. Retrieved 13 September 2 ...
on March 7, 2006,
and at the time of the crash had accumulated 37,120 flight hours and 5,388 (takeoff-and-landing) cycles.
The
Boeing 777
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet.
The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...
has a good reputation for safety.
This was its first fatal accident, second crash (after
British Airways Flight 38
British Airways Flight 38 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, to London Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom, an trip. On 17 January 2008, the Boeing 777-200ER airc ...
), and third
hull loss since the 777 began operating commercially in 1995.
Crew and passengers
Crew
The
aircrew consisted of three captains and one
first officer. 49-year-old Captain Lee Jeong-min () in the right seat (first officer position),
filled the dual role of a check/instructor captain and
pilot in command, responsible for the safe operation of the flight.
He had 12,387 hours of flying experience, of which 3,220 hours were in a 777.
This was his first flight as an instructor.
45-year-old Captain Lee Kang-kuk () in the left seat (captain's position), was receiving his initial operating experience (IOE) training and was halfway through Asiana's IOE requirements. He had 9,793 hours of flying experience, of which 43 were in a 777 over nine flights, and was operating the controls under the supervision of the instructor in the right seat.
At the time of the crash, 40-year-old relief first officer Bong Dong-won () was observing from the cockpit
jump seat
In aviation, a jump seat or jumpseat is an auxiliary seat for individuals—other than normal passengers—who are not operating the aircraft. In general, the term 'jump seat' can also refer to a seat in any type of vehicle which can fold up out ...
. 52-year-old
Relief Captain Lee Jong-joo () occupied a business-class seat in the passenger cabin.
Bong Dong-won received medical treatment for a cracked rib; none of the other pilots needed hospital care.
Four
flight attendants seated at the rear were ejected from the aircraft when the tail section broke off, but they survived.
Twelve flight attendants were on board, ten South Korean and two Thai. Six flight attendants received physical and emotional treatment. The other six returned to South Korea.
Passengers
![Asiana214SeatMapEN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Asiana214SeatMapEN.png)
Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyuan, with Chinese passports, were found dead outside the aircraft soon after the crash after having been thrown out of the plane during the accident.
Neither victim had been wearing their seatbelts.
It is likely that these passengers would have remained in the cabin and survived had they been wearing their seatbelts.
On July 19, 2013, the San Mateo County Coroner's office determined that Mengyuan was still alive before being run over by a
rescue vehicle, and was killed by blunt force trauma.
On January 28, 2014, the San Francisco city attorney's office announced its conclusion that the girl was already dead when she was run over.
A third passenger, Liu Yipeng, died of her Injuries at
San Francisco General Hospital six days after the accident.
She had been wearing her seatbelt and was seated in seat 42A, which is in the last row of passenger seats on the left side of the aircraft, immediately forward of door 4L. During the crash, the back of Yipeng's seat rotated back and against the floor, leaving her exposed. Her injuries were likely the result of having been struck by door 4L, which separated during the airplane's final impact.
Ten people in critical condition were admitted to San Francisco General Hospital and a few to
Stanford Medical Center.
Nine hospitals in the area admitted a total of 182 injured people.
San Francisco Fire Department
The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) provides firefighting, hazardous materials response services, technical rescue services and emergency medical response services to the City and County of San Francisco, California.
History
Volunteer Depa ...
Chief Joanne Hayes-White, after checking with two intake points at the airport, told reporters that all on board had been accounted for.
Of the passengers, 141 (almost half) were Chinese citizens. More than 90 of them had boarded Asiana Airlines Flight 362 from
Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of two international airports serving Shanghai and a major aviation hub of East Asia. Pudong Airport serves both international flights and a smaller number of domestic fights, while the city's oth ...
, connecting to Flight 214 at Incheon.
Incheon serves as a major connecting point between China and North America. In July 2013, Asiana Airlines operated between Incheon (Seoul) and 21 cities in mainland China.
Seventy students and teachers traveling to the United States for
summer camp
A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...
were among the Chinese passengers. Thirty of the students and teachers were from
Shanxi, and the others were from
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...
.
Five of the teachers and 29 of the students were from
Jiangshan High School in Zhejiang; they were traveling together. Thirty-five of the students were to attend a
West Valley Christian School summer camp. The Shanxi students originated from
Taiyuan,
with 22 students and teachers from the
Taiyuan Number Five Secondary School and 14 students and teachers from the
Taiyuan Foreign Language School Taiyuan Foreign Language School (TFLS, ) is a comprehensive public middle school and high school located in Taiyuan, China. It is one of the first foreign language schools in China, and one of the 17 foreign language schools that are recognized by t ...
.
The three passengers who died were in the Jiangshan High School group to West Valley camp.
Crash
On July 6, 2013, Flight OZ214 took off from
Incheon International Airport
Incheon International Airport (IIA; ) (sometimes referred to as Seoul–Incheon International Airport) is the largest airport in South Korea. It is the primary airport serving the Seoul Capital Area and one of the largest and busiest airports ...
(ICN) at 5:04 p.m.
KST (08:04
UTC), 34 minutes after its scheduled departure time. It was scheduled to land at
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) at 11:04 a.m.
PDT (18:04 UTC).
The
instrument landing system
In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...
's vertical guidance (glide slope) on Runway 28L was unavailable, as it had been taken out of service on June 1 and a
notice to air missions to that effect had been issued. Therefore, a precision
ILS approach to the runway was not possible.
The flight was cleared for a
visual approach to Runway 28L at 11:21 a.m. PDT, and told to maintain a speed of until the aircraft was from the runway. At 11:26 a.m.,
Northern California TRACON ("NorCal Approach") handed the flight off to San Francisco tower. A tower controller acknowledged the second call from the crew at 11:27 a.m. when the plane was away, and gave clearance to land.
![Asiana Flight 214 Approach to SFO](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Asiana_Flight_214_Approach_to_SFO.png)
The weather was very good; the latest
METAR reported light wind,
visibility (the maximum it can report), no precipitation, and no forecast or reports of
wind shear
Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizont ...
. The pilots performed a
visual approach assisted by the runway's
precision approach path indicator
A precision approach path indicator (PAPI) is a visual aid that provides guidance information to help a pilot to acquire and maintain the correct approach (in the vertical plane) to an airport or an aerodrome. It is generally located on the left- ...
(PAPI).
Preliminary analysis indicated that the plane's approach was too slow and too low. Eighty-two seconds before impact, at an altitude of about ,
the autopilot was turned off, the throttles were set to idle, and the plane was operated manually during final descent.
NTSB chairman
Deborah Hersman
Deborah A.P. Hersman (born May 7, 1970) is a former board member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board who served as its 12th chairman. She completed two terms as chairman and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 16, 2013, for a ...
stated the pilots did not "set the aircraft for an auto-land situation ... They had been cleared for a visual approach and they were hand-flying the airplane," adding: "During the approach there were statements made in the cockpit first about being above the glide path, then about being on the glide path, then later reporting about being below the glide path. All of these statements were made as they were on the approach to San Francisco..." Based on preliminary data from the flight data recorder (FDR), the NTSB found that the plane's airspeed on final approach had fallen well below its target approach speed. A preliminary review of FAA radar return data did not show an abnormally steep descent curve,
although the crew did recognize that they began high on the final approach.
At a height of , eight seconds before impact, the airspeed had dropped to . According to initial reports from the cockpit crew, the plane's autothrottle was set for the correct reference speed, but until the runway's precision approach path indicator (PAPI) showed them significantly below the glide path, the pilots were unaware that the autothrottle was failing to maintain that speed. The instructor pilot stated that the PAPI indicated a deviation below the glide path at approximately
above ground level
In aviation, atmospheric sciences and broadcasting, a height above ground level (AGL or HAGL) is a height measured with respect to the underlying ground surface. This is as opposed to height above mean sea level (AMSL or HAMSL), height above elli ...
, and he attempted to correct it at that time. Between , the instructor pilot also reported a lateral deviation that the crew attempted to correct.
Seven seconds before impact, one pilot called for an increase in speed.
The FDR showed the throttles were advanced from idle at that time.
The instructor pilot reported that he had called for an increase in speed, but that the pilot flying had already advanced the throttles by the time that he reached for the throttles.
The sound of the
stick shaker
A stick shaker is a mechanical device designed to rapidly and noisily vibrate the control yoke (the "stick") of an aircraft, warning the flight crew that an imminent aerodynamic stall has been detected. It is typically present on the majority of ...
(warning of imminent
stall) could be heard four seconds before impact on the cockpit voice recorder.
Airspeed reached a minimum of (34 knots below the target speed) three seconds before impact, with engines at 50% power and increasing.
The co-pilot called for a go-around 1.5 seconds before impact.
At impact, airspeed had increased to .
At 11:28 a.m., HL7742 crashed short of Runway 28L's threshold. The landing gear and then the tail struck the seawall that projects into San Francisco Bay.[ The left engine and the tail section separated from the aircraft.] The NTSB noted that the main landing gear, the first part of the aircraft to hit the seawall, "separated cleanly from heaircraft as designed" to protect the wing fuel tank structure. The vertical and both horizontal stabilizers fell on the runway before the threshold.
The remainder of the fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...
and wings rotated counter-clockwise approximately 330 degrees as the plane slid westward. Video showed it pivoting about the wing and the nose while sharply inclined to the ground. It came to rest to the left of the runway, from the initial point of impact at the seawall.
After a minute or so, a dark plume of smoke was observed rising from the wreckage. The fire was traced to a ruptured oil tank above the right engine. The leaking oil fell onto the hot engine and ignited. The fire was not fed by jet fuel
Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial a ...
.[ All three fire handles were extended; these operate safety equipment intended to extinguish fires on the aircraft (a handle for each engine and the ]auxiliary power unit
An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft and naval ships as well as some large land vehicles. Aircraft APUs generally produce 115&n ...
). The speedbrake
In aeronautics, air brakes or speed brakes are a type of flight control surface used on an aircraft to increase the drag on the aircraft. Air brakes differ from spoilers in that air brakes are designed to increase drag while making litt ...
lever was down, showing that it was not being used.
Two evacuation slide
An evacuation slide is an inflatable slide used to evacuate an aircraft quickly. An escape slide is required on all commercial (passenger carrying) aircraft where the door sill height is such that, in the event of an evacuation, passengers wou ...
s were deployed on the left side of the airliner and used for evacuation. Despite damage to the aircraft, "many ... were able to walk away on their own." The slides for the first and second doors on the right side of the aircraft (doors 1R and 2R) deployed inside the aircraft during the crash, pinning the flight attendants seated nearby.
According to NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
reports in September 2013, the U.S. government had been concerned about the reliability of evacuation slides for decades: "Federal safety reports and government databases reveal that the NTSB has recommended multiple improvements to escape slides and that the Federal Aviation Administration has collected thousands of complaints about them." Two months before the accident at SFO, the FAA issued an airworthiness directive
An Airworthiness Directive (commonly abbreviated as AD) is a notification to owners and operators of certified aircraft that a known safety deficiency with a particular model of aircraft, engine, avionics or other system exists and must be correct ...
ordering inspection of the slide-release mechanism on certain Boeing 777 aircraft in order to detect and correct corrosion that might interfere with slide deployment.
This was the third fatal crash in Asiana's 25-year history.
Survivor and eyewitness accounts
Several passengers recalled noticing the plane's unusual proximity to the water on final approach, which caused water to thrust upward as the engines were spooling up in the final seconds before impact.
In the initial moments after the crash, the cockpit crew told flight attendants to delay evacuating the aircraft as they were communicating with the tower. A flight attendant seated at the second door on the left side (door 2L) observed fire outside the aircraft near row 10 and informed the cockpit crew, and the evacuation order was then given, approximately 90 seconds after the aircraft had come to rest. Flight attendants told NTSB investigators that there was no fire inside the cabin when the evacuation began.
The crew also helped several passengers who were unable to escape on their own, and a pilot carried out one passenger with an injured leg. One flight attendant said that many Chinese passengers who sat at the back of the plane near the third exit were not aware of the evacuation.
During the evacuation, a pilot used an extinguisher on a fire that had penetrated from the exterior to the inside of the cabin.
During the crash, two of the inflatable chutes deployed into the cabin. The first chute, which blocked the forward right exit, nearly suffocated a flight attendant and was deflated by a pilot with a crash axe from the cockpit. The second chute expanded toward the center of the aircraft near the fire. It trapped a second flight attendant until a co-pilot deflated it with a dinner knife.
Some passengers sitting at the rear of the aircraft escaped through the hole left by the missing tail section.
Eyewitnesses to the crash included the cockpit crew and many passengers on board United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. Flight 885 (UA 885), a Boeing 747-400
The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747.
The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...
that was holding on Taxiway F, next to the runway. Others saw it from the terminal and near the airport. At least one person recorded it on video. Writing on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network
The Professional Pilots Rumour Network, or PPRuNe, is an Internet forum catering to airline pilots and others in the aviation industry.
The site was originally presented by Danny Fyne (later assisted by Robin Lloyd) as an email list in 1993. It ...
internet forum, the first officer of UA 885 described what he saw:
Passengers and others praised the flight attendants' conduct after the crash. Cabin manager Lee Yoon-hye was the last to leave the burning plane. San Francisco fire chief Hayes-White praised Lee's courage, saying, "She wanted to make sure that everyone was off. ... She was a hero."
A firefighter who entered the cabin said that the back of the plane had suffered structural damage, but that the seats near the front "were almost pristine" before the cabin fire.
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a team of 20 to the scene to investigate. On July 7, 2013, NTSB investigators recovered the flight data recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
and cockpit voice recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
and transported them to Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, for analysis. Additional parties to the investigation include the Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
, airframe manufacturer Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
, engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviat ...
, and the Korean Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board
The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB, ko, 항공ㆍ철도사고조사위원회) is an agency of the South Korean government that investigates aviation and railway accidents, subservient to the Ministry of Land, Infrastruc ...
(ARAIB). ARAIB's technical adviser is Asiana Airlines.
Hersman said that the NTSB conducted a four-hour interview with each pilot, adding that the pilots were open and cooperative. She said both pilots at the controls had ample rest before they left South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and during the flight when they were relieved by the backup crew.[ All three pilots told NTSB investigators that they were relying on the 777's automated devices for speed control during final descent.] The relief first officer also stated to NTSB investigators that he had called out "sink rate
In aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronauti ...
" to call attention to the rate at which the plane was descending during the final approach. This "sink rate" warning was repeated several times during the last minute of the descent. ARAIB tested the pilots for drug use four weeks after the accident; the tests proved negative.
The NTSB's investigative team completed the examination of the airplane wreckage and runway. The wreckage was removed to a secure storage location at San Francisco International Airport. The Airplane Systems, Structures, Powerplants, Airplane Performance, and Air Traffic Control investigative groups completed their on-scene work. The Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder groups completed their work in Washington. The Survival Factors/Airport group completed their interviews of the first responders
A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or terr ...
. The next phase of the investigation included additional interviews, examination of the evacuation slides and other airplane components, and a more detailed analysis of the airplane's performance.
Based on a preliminary review of FDR data, the NTSB stated there was no anomalous behavior of the engines, the autopilot, the flight director, or the autothrottle. The autothrottle control was found to be in the "armed" position during documentation of cockpit levers and switches, differing from both the "on" and "off" positions. Furthermore, the pilot flying's flight director
Flight controllers are personnel who aid space flight by working in such Mission Control Centers as NASA's Mission Control Center or ESA's European Space Operations Centre. Flight controllers work at computer consoles and use telemetry to mon ...
(Primary Flight Display
A primary flight display or PFD is a modern aircraft instrument dedicated to flight information. Much like multi-function displays, primary flight displays are built around a Liquid-crystal display or CRT display device. Representations of ol ...
) was ''deactivated'' whereas the instructor pilot's was ''activated''. (This may prove to be significant, as deactivating neither or both Flight Directors enables and ''forces'' an autothrottle "wake-up" whereas deactivating only one Flight Director ''inhibits'' an autothrottle "wake-up".)
Hersman said: "In this flight, in the last 2.5 minutes of the flight, from data on the flight data recorder we see multiple autopilot modes and multiple autothrottle modes ... We need to understand what those modes were, if they were commanded by pilots, if they were activated inadvertently, if the pilots understood what the mode was doing."[ Hersman has repeatedly emphasized it is the pilot's responsibility to monitor and maintain correct approach speed and that the crew's actions in the cockpit are the primary focus of the investigation.]
The final report into the crash was released on June 24, 2014. The NTSB found that the "Mismanagement of Approach and Inadequate Monitoring of Airspeed led to the Crash of Asiana flight 214". The NTSB determined that the flight crew mismanaged the initial approach and that the airplane was well above the desired glidepath. In response, the captain selected an inappropriate autopilot mode (FLCH, or Flight Level Change) that, without the captain's awareness, resulted in the autothrottle no longer controlling airspeed. The aircraft then descended below the desired glidepath with the crew unaware of the decreasing airspeed. The attempted go-around was conducted below 100 feet, by which time it was too late. Over-reliance on automation and lack of systems understanding by the pilots were cited as major factors contributing to the accident.
The NTSB further determined that the pilot's faulty mental model of the airplane's automation logic led to his inadvertent deactivation of automatic airspeed control. In addition, Asiana's automation policy emphasized the full use of all automation and did not encourage manual flight during line operations. The flight crew's mismanagement of the airplane's vertical profile during the initial approach led to a period of increased workload that reduced the monitoring pilot's awareness of the flying pilot's actions around the time of the unintended deactivation of automatic airspeed control. Insufficient flight crew monitoring of airspeed indications during the approach likely resulted from expectancy, increased workload, fatigue, and automation reliance. Lack of compliance with standard operating procedure
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing misc ...
s and crew resource management
Crew resource management or cockpit resource management (CRM)Diehl, Alan (2013) "Air Safety Investigators: Using Science to Save Lives-One Crash at a Time." Xlibris Corporation. . http://www.prweb.com/releases/DrAlanDiehl/AirSafetyInvestigators/ ...
were cited as additional factors.
The NTSB reached the following final conclusion:
NTSB use of social media
Shortly after the accident, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) used Twitter and YouTube to inform the public about the investigation and quickly publish quotes from press conferences. NTSB first tweeted about Asiana 214 less than one hour after the crash. One hour after that, the NTSB announced via Twitter that officials would hold a press conference at Reagan Airport Hangar 6 before departing for San Francisco. Less than 12 hours after the crash, the NTSB released a photo showing investigators conducting their first site assessment. On June 24, 2014, the NTSB published to YouTube a narrated accident sequence animation.
South Korean investigation
The South Korean government announced in a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) statement that it would investigate whether the crew followed procedures and how they were trained.
Aftermath
The airport was closed for five hours after the crash. Flights destined for San Francisco were diverted to Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
, San Jose, Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, Portland (OR)
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, and Seattle–Tacoma. By 3:30 p.m. PDT, runway 1L/19R and runway 1R/19L (both of which run perpendicular across the runway of the accident) were reopened; runway 10L/28R (parallel to the runway of the accident) remained closed for more than 24 hours. The accident runway, 10R/28L, reopened on July 12 after being repaired. In August 2013, Asiana renumbered its Seoul-San Francisco route with the flight OZ212, on a retimed scheduled departure of 8:40 pm, using an Airbus A350-900 aircraft; the July 6 accident OZ214 had a scheduled 4:40 pm departure using a Boeing 777-200ER.
In the U.S., drug and alcohol tests are standard after air accidents, but this is not a requirement for pilots of foreign-registered aircraft, and the pilots were not tested immediately after the accident. The lack of alcohol testing received much public attention and was critically discussed by various media and politicians after the accident. Shortly after the accident, Congresswoman Jackie Speier stated that she would consider legislation to improve airline safety by requiring increased pilot training and mandatory drug and alcohol testing for international crews.
The crash damaged Asiana's reputation and that of South Korea's aviation industry following years of apparent improvements after a series of aircraft disasters in the 1980s and early 1990s. Asiana shares fell by 5.8% on the first day of trading after the crash.
Response from Asiana Airlines
In the hours after the accident, Asiana Airlines CEO Yoon Young-doo () said his airline had ruled out mechanical failure as the cause of the crash. Later, he defended the flight crew, calling them "very experienced and competent pilots". On July 9, Yoon apologized directly to the parents of the two victims, then flew aboard Flight 214 to San Francisco, the same route as the crashed aircraft, to meet with NTSB officials. Asiana gave flights to San Francisco to the families of the victims.
Asiana Airlines announced on July 29, 2013, that it would retire flight numbers 214 and 213 on August 12, 2013. Flights from Incheon to San Francisco and the return leg would thenceforth operate as OZ212 and OZ211, respectively.
Asiana Airlines officials said the airline would improve training for its pilots: in particular, for pilots learning to fly different types of aircraft, and in various skills such as making visual approaches and flying on autopilot. Asiana officials also said they would seek to improve communications skills among crew members, introduce a system to manage "fatigue risk", set up separate maintenance teams for Boeing and Airbus planes, and improve safety management systems.
On August 12, 2013, Asiana Airlines announced initial payouts to crash survivors of US$10,000, stating the survivors "need money to go to hospital or for transportation so we are giving them the $10,000 first," Asiana spokeswoman Lee Hyo Min said in a telephone interview. "Even if they are not hurt or they don't go to hospital, we will still give them this money." "The carrier may pay more after the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation into the accident. The families of those who died were paid more than $10,000 as an initial compensation," Lee said, without providing a specific figure.[
]
Response from the South Korean government
South Korean transport ministry officials ordered Korean Air
Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights.
The present-day Korean Air ...
and Asiana to check engines and landing equipment on all 48 of their model 777 aircraft and announced that the government would conduct special inspections on the nation's eight carriers through August 25, 2013. "The measures could include hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
rules on training flights if needed," Deputy Minister for Civil Aviation Choi Jeong-ho told reporters. The officials also said South Korea had no fatal air crashes between December 1999 and the July 2011 crash of an Asiana freighter.
Response from the San Francisco Fire Department
Helmet-recorded images showed that firefighters on the scene saw two of the three victims still alive after being thrown from the plane. The driver of the fire engine ran over them. The firefighter is reported to have said "She got run over... I mean, shit happens, you know?" Afterward the incident was reported by the firefighter to San Francisco Fire Department
The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) provides firefighting, hazardous materials response services, technical rescue services and emergency medical response services to the City and County of San Francisco, California.
History
Volunteer Depa ...
Chief Joanne M. Hayes-White stating "Chief, there's a woman there who's been run over by one of our rigs." The chief asked if the victim had been crushed, to which the firefighter replied "like someone dropped a pumpkin."[
Chief Hayes-White initially made a public statement lauding her firefighters for having "worked as best as it possibly could have". After two days, Hayes-White addressed the incident and said that "public officials most certainly have a duty to tell the truth," and that "it would have been speculative and irresponsible to report something without having confirmation" during the first two days while the San Francisco police and National Transportation Safety Board conducted their investigation. The San Mateo County prosecutors did not file criminal charges against San Francisco firefighters for what they described as a "tragic accident".]
Hayes-White stated that the department's 2009 ban on video recording devices would be extended to include any devices mounted on helmets that record emergencies citing privacy concerns.
Lawsuits
On July 15, 2013, two Korean passengers filed a lawsuit against Asiana Airlines in a California federal court for "an extensive litany of errors and omissions" and improper crew training and supervision. On the same day, 83 passengers filed a petition for discovery in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, alleging a possible failure of the autothrottle
An autothrottle (automatic throttle, also known as autothrust, A/T) is a system that allows a pilot to control the power setting of an aircraft's engines by specifying a desired flight characteristic, rather than manually controlling the fuel f ...
system and malfunctioning evacuation slide
An evacuation slide is an inflatable slide used to evacuate an aircraft quickly. An escape slide is required on all commercial (passenger carrying) aircraft where the door sill height is such that, in the event of an evacuation, passengers wou ...
s and seat belts
A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...
. An additional lawsuit against Asiana Airlines and Boeing Aircraft Company was filed on August 9, 2013. In addition to alleging product defects, the suits focus on the training provided to the Asiana crew.
Seventy-two passengers reached an undisclosed settlement that was filed in United States Federal court on March 3, 2015. On the same day the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that, "At least 60 lawsuits against the airline filed in the Northern District of California ... have not reached settlements," and "dozens of claims have been filed against the airline in China and South Korea and against Boeing in an Illinois state court."
Asiana also initially announced it would file a defamation lawsuit against KTVU
KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside San Jose ...
for having aired the Asiana Airlines KTVU prank , but withdrew from that course of action two days later.
Legislative action
On July 30, 2013, an amendment to Transportation bill H.R. 2610 was adopted by voice vote for the transfer of $500,000 from the Next Generation Air Transportation System account to the air safety account to study implementing a verbal warning system for low air speed.
Fines
On February 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...
fined Asiana Airlines US$500,000 for failing to keep victims and family of victims updated on the crash.
In popular culture
'' Mayday: Air Crash Investigation'' mentioned Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in its Season 13 episode, "Getting Out Alive," as part of a series of accidents and discussion of how passengers were able to escape. A season 15 episode focused solely on the Flight 214 accident, titled "Terror in San Francisco," aired on January 13, 2016.
San Francisco television station KTVU
KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside San Jose ...
fell victim to a prank which led news anchor Tori Campbell to report the names of the pilots as "Captain Sum Ting Wong", "Wi Tu Lo", "Ho Lee Fuk", and "Bang Ding Ow" in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Viewers quickly realized that these "names" were phonetic double entendres for "something's wrong", "we're too low", "holy fuck", and the sound of the crash, respectively. The prank was described as racist and offensive, and led to the firing of three veteran KTVU producers. While the source of these joke names remains unclear, the NTSB admitted in a statement that one of its summer interns had confirmed the erroneous names when they were stated by the news station.
See also
* List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
This list of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft includes notable events that have a corresponding Wikipedia article. Entries in this list involve passenger or cargo aircraft that are operating commercially and meet this list ...
* British Airways Flight 38
British Airways Flight 38 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, to London Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom, an trip. On 17 January 2008, the Boeing 777-200ER airc ...
* Turkish Airlines Flight 1951
Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 (also known as the Poldercrash or the Schiphol Polderbaan incident) was a passenger flight that crashed during landing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, the Netherlands, on 25 February 2009, resulting in the deaths of ...
* Lion Air Flight 904
Lion Air Flight 904 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, Indonesia. On April 13, 2013, the Boeing 737-800 operating the flight crashed in ...
* Delta Air Lines Flight 723
Delta Air Lines Flight 723 was a Douglas DC-9 twin-engine jetliner, operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Burlington, Vermont to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, with an intermediate stop in Manchester, N ...
* Emirates Flight 521
Emirates Flight 521 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Thiruvananthapuram, India, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, operated by Emirates using a Boeing 777-300. On 3 August 2016, the aircraft carrying 282 passengers and 18 crew c ...
* Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145
Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 (SO1145/OSL1145) was a scheduled Nigerian domestic passenger flight from Nigeria's capital of Abuja (ABV) to Port Harcourt ( PHC). At about 14:08 local time (13:08 UTC) on 10 December 2005, Flight 1145 from Abu ...
* Korean Air Flight 801
Korean Air Flight 801 (KE801, KAL801) was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Korean Air. The flight crashed on August 6, 1997, on approach to Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, in the United States territory of Guam, k ...
* AIRES Flight 8250
AIRES Flight 8250 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that on 16 August 2010 crashed on landing at night in poor weather on the Colombian island of San Andrés, killing two of the 131 people on board. The aircraft, an AIRES-operated Boei ...
*Asiana Airlines Flight 733
Asiana Airlines Flight 733 (OZ733, AAR733, registration HL7229) was a domestic Asiana Airlines passenger flight from Seoul-Gimpo International Airport (SEL at the time, now GMP) to Mokpo Airport (MPK), South Korea. The Boeing 737 crashed on July ...
*Asiana Airlines Flight 162
Asiana Airlines Flight 162 was a regular short-haul international passenger flight from Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea, to Hiroshima Airport in Hiroshima, Japan. On 14 April 2015, the Airbus A320-232 aircraft touched down ...
* 1961 Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash
* Air Canada Flight 624
*UPS Airlines Flight 1354
UPS Airlines Flight 1354 was a scheduled cargo flight from Louisville, Kentucky, to Birmingham, Alabama. On August 14, 2013, the Airbus A300 flying the route crashed and burst into flames short of the runway on approach to Birmingham–Shuttlesw ...
References
External links
* Asiana Airlines
*
Information for Incident Involving Asiana Flight OZ 214
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* National Transportation Safety Board
Aviation Accident Investigation – Asiana Airlines Flight 214
** // NTSB.gov
Investigation docket
Asiana 214 traffic with SFO Tower, July 6, 2013
(radio recording)
*
* ttps://tailstrike.com/database/06-july-2013-asiana-airlines-214/ Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript and accident summary*
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11:27:10
{{Portal bar, Aviation, China, San Francisco Bay Area, South Korea, California
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2013
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South Korea–United States relations
History of San Mateo County, California
July 2013 events in the United States
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 2013