Breaking: Official: Asiana Flight Tried to Abort Landing

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

@AP: BREAKING: Official: Asiana flight tried to abort landing, make another try seconds before it crashed -RJJ

@AP: MORE: Cockpit recorder from Asiana jetliner shows pilot tried to abort landing, NTSB official says: http://t.co/bwhPnwXCyy -RJJ

Jul 7, 5:15 PM EDT

Official: Asiana flight tried to abort landing

By JASON DEAREN and JOAN LOWY
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal safety official said the cockpit voice recorder from Asiana Airlines Flight 214 showed the jetliner tried to abort its landing and come around for another try 1.5 seconds before it crashed at San Francisco airport.

National Transportation Safety Board chief Deborah Hersman said at a news conference Sunday the recorder also showed there was a call to increase airspeed roughly two seconds before impact.

Before that, she said, there was no indication in the recordings that the aircraft was having any problems before it crashed Saturday, killing two passengers and injuring scores of others.

Investigators took the flight data recorder to Washington, D.C., overnight to begin examining its contents for clues to the last moments of the flight, officials said. They also plan to interview the pilots, the crew and passengers.


Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SAN_FRANCISCO_AIRLINER_CRASH

[PoliticAverse]

1. ABC News story on the issue...

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/survivor-runway-hole-tail-19600719#.UdnbjW0yxwE

A federal safety official said the cockpit voice recorder from Asiana Airlines Flight 214 showed the jetliner tried to abort its landing and come around for another try 1.5 seconds before it crashed at San Francisco airport.

National Transportation Safety Board chief Deborah Hersman said at a news conference Sunday the recorder also showed there was a call to increase airspeed roughly two seconds before impact.

Before that, she said, there was no indication in the recordings that the aircraft was having any problems before it crashed Saturday, killing two passengers and injuring scores of others.

[Major Nikon]

2. This is what I assumed happened yesterday

It fit all the available information and seemed to be the most likely culprit.

[Ptah]

3. CNN has a video of the approach and crash:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/07/us/plane-crash-main/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[FightingIrish]

4. I watched the Flight radar 24 track of the flight

moments after the crash.
[link:http://www.flightradar24.com/2013-07-06/18:20/12x/AAR214/173a97f|
http://www.flightradar24.com/2013-07-06/18:20/12x/AAR214/173a97f]

If you stop the track just before impact it shows:
Altitude: 150 feet
Vertical Speed: -128 feet/minute
Speed: 85 Knots
Speed in this case is ground speed and not true airspeed but it may be a fair indication of how far below the target approach airpseed of 137 knots the aircraft was when it became unflyable.

[ladjf]

5. I heard one weather report that there was a 21 kt. headwind which would add that to the

airspeed. But, the stick shaker indicated that the airplane was approaching stall speed prior to the plane's arrival at the runway.

[PoliticAverse]

6. According to this graph purporting to show the ground speed of the Asiana plane

(vs 2 other 777s that landed that day) they were going quite slowly indeed...

[ladjf]

7. Under the reported weather conditions, it should have been obvious to any experienced pilot looking

at the runway from a mile or two out that the glide angle, the airspeed, and the sink rate were
way out of kilter. The go around should have been initiated no less that 20 seconds earlier that the actual call. Even that would have been dicey.

My question is how could two experienced pilots sit there, looking out of the windshield, watching the airspeed drop to stall and watching the distance from the ground drop to zero before anyone seems to notice that the crash was imminent.

There might be some logical answers to my questions showing that the pilots weren't to blame.

[Capt.Rocky300]

8. The cockpit voice recorder may help....

but the definitive answers will have to come from the crew. But, that's only if, they are forthright. I do wonder if fatigue may have caused a bit of "runway hypnosis".

[ladjf]

9. Yes. But whatever it was they were looking at rather than the runway, airspeed, altimeter and

rate of sink must have been extremely compelling.

Not to mention that the localizer was running, the markers were probably functioning as well as
their GPS, all capable of showing that their altitude was not anywhere near the correct glide slope
angle.

Perhaps there was a fuel shortage problem, but, that doesn't seem too likely.

[PoliticAverse]

11. Some info from the cockpit voice recorder...

Based on the cockpit voice recorder, Hersman says at 7 sec. before impact, one crewmember called for an increase in speed, and at 4 sec. before hitting the sea wall, the stick shaker is heard. At 1.5 sec. before impact, Hersman says a crewmember called for a go-around. Earlier in the approach, the crew verified that the 777’s landing gear was down and the flaps set to 30 deg.

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_07_07_2013_p0-594557.xml

[Capt.Rocky300]

14. The CVR will not explain why.......

the crew failed to take corrective action sooner. The NTSB will want to hear it from the crewmembers individually as to why they allowed the speed to decay and why they apparently ignored the indications from the PAPI showing them to be low. An important factor will be whether they were they using the auto-throttles or were they controlling power manually? The FDR will confirm that.

[burrowowl]

16. It does look like the abort was too late!

Too low and too slow!

[DeSwiss]

10. And another Boeing 777-200ER......

5 MINUTES BEFORE PLANE CRASH AT SFO, ANOTHER BOEING 777 HAD TO MAKE EMERGENCY STOP IN GREECE

Posted By: NaturalWisdom
Date: Sunday, 7-Jul-2013 13:21:18

Per RSOE EDIS, SFO crash involving Asiana Airlines occurred at 19:53 UTC, while emergency stop of another Boeing 777 200-ER operated by another carrier occurred at Athens at 19:48 - five minutes earlier.

RSOE EDIS - Vehicle Incident in Greece on Saturday 06 July 2013 at 19:48

Kenya Airways flight KQ117 from Amsterdam to Nairobi has made an emergency stop at Greece capital Athens, a press statement from the airline communications office has said. "Kenya Airways wishes to inform its passengers and the general public of the diversion of flight KQ117 that was flying from Amsterdam to Nairobi with 301 passengers on board." "The aircraft, a Boeing 777 200ER, was diverted to Athens at 0125 Hours Kenyan time after a fire warning indication in one of the cargo holds. As is the normal standard procedure in the industry, the fire suppression system was activated and the aircraft diverted to the nearest airport for further assessment."

K&R

[Agschmid]

12. Completely unrelated...

There are now likely more than 1,000 of these plans manufactured... And a good portion of that is likely flying at any moment.

Map of 777-200 flying now in the US.

[DeSwiss]

15. What can I say, I'm attracted to anomalies. :-| n/t

[burrowowl]

17. Yes!

Unrelated!

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. I have only been on a plane that aborted landing well into the descent once: it was at SFO

I smoked back then, and flew from Chicago to SFO, so I was well fiending for a smoke at that point. We were about to land; I was ready to do my usual run for the exit to smoke. This guy pulled up. He pulled up, and it was like a second take-off. I was like "What in ever holy-lovin' mother-eff." It was night time, so we circled. We were really low when he pulled up. Really low. That was hairy.

[trusty elf]

18. Now that you mention it,

I'm reminded that I too was on a flight that aborted a landing at SFO. We had actually touched down, then immediately took off again. There was another plane on the runway!