Posted on 07/10/2013 7:09:15 PM PDT by knak
The flying pilot of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 told National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials that he was "blinded" temporarily by a flash of light at 500 feet, or 34 seconds before impact -- about the same time the pilots realized they were flying too low and going too slow. The NTSB doesn't know what caused the flash, and is continuing to investigate.
At Wednesday's NTSB briefing, NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman released information from the board's investigation. She detailed who was on the crew, the communications between air traffic control and the Asiana pilots, and the plane's evacuation.
Evacuation delayed 90 seconds
Additionally, crash pilots initially told flight attendants not to evacuate. A flight attendant seated in the middle of the plane looked over and saw fire outside the plane window and sent his colleague to the front of the plane to communicate with the head flight attendant. With the knowledge of the fire, the flight attendants then began to evacuate the plane, staring about a minute and a half after the crash.
NTSB officials are also saying that three flight attendants, not two, were ejected from the back of the aircraft when it hit the ground.
Pilot error or plane malfunction?
Hersman explained that there are many levels of automation on an airplane, including auto-pilot and auto-throttle. Throttle refers to the plane's power and pilots use auto-throttle to control speed and help with ascent and descent. Hersman said that in the last 2½ minutes before the Asiana flight crashed, there were multiple auto-pilot and auto-throttle modes in use.
There are multiple modes being engaged," Hersman said. "We need to understand how they work together and what it means. We still have some work to do in this area. The NTSB has not sorted out whether pilots knew what they were doing or if there was a malfunction.
One place where the aircraft did malfunction was in deploying evacuation slides. Two flight attendants on the right side of the plane were pinned by evacuation slides that inflated inside the aircraft after impact. The evacuation slide normally inflates when its in the armed position and the door is opened," Hersman said. "It is unknown at this time why the doors inflated inside the aircraft.
SFO runway cleanup
The NTSB will release the runway to SFO in the next 24 hours, if not by tonight, but the airport will still have a lot to clean up before the runway can reopen. Airport employees will have to remove plane debris and chunks of seawall dragged onto the runway, repair runway systems and rebuild the seawall before runway 28L will be back in service. That likely means more delays at SFO.
I used to tell my students, “try to salvage a landing out of a bad approach and you will wind up as salvage”. Go Around, it will add a few minutes to the time you log for the flight.
Pride is a hard dish to swallow, especially for those Korean pilots.
It’s sarcasm, Sheldon.
Right. And I bet his dog ate his homework too.
Hard to know...Wilfred!
Just received this from a friend. I have no attribution, but it does provide, if true, insight into Korean pilots and their ability to take training.
Low-down on Korean pilots
After I retired from UAL as a Standards Captain on the 400, I got a job as a simulator instructor working for Alteon (a Boeing subsidiary) at Asiana. When I first got there, I was shocked and surprised by the lack of basic piloting skills shown by most of the pilots. It is not a normal situation with normal progression from new hire, right seat, left seat taking a decade or two. One big difference is that ex-Military pilots are given super-seniority and progress to the left seat much faster. Compared to the US, they also upgrade fairly rapidly because of the phenomenal growth by all Asian air carriers. By the way, after about six months at Asiana, I was moved over to KAL and found them to be identical. The only difference was the color of the uniforms and airplanes. I worked in Korea for 5 long years and although I found most of the people to be very pleasant, its a minefield of a work environment ... for them and for us expats.
One of the first things I learned was that the pilots kept a web-site and reported on every training session. I dont think this was officially sanctioned by the company, but after one or two simulator periods, a database was building on me (and everyone else) that told them exactly how I ran the sessions, what to expect on checks, and what to look out for. For example; I used to open an aft cargo door at 100 knots to get them to initiate an RTO and I would brief them on it during the briefing. This was on the B-737 NG and many of the captains were coming off the 777 or B744 and they were used to the Master Caution System being inhibited at 80 kts. Well, for the first few days after I started that, EVERYONE rejected the takeoff. Then, all of a sudden they all got it and continued the takeoff (in accordance with their manuals). The word had gotten out. I figured it was an overall PLUS for the training program.
We expat instructors were forced upon them after the amount of fatal accidents (most of the them totally avoidable) over a decade began to be noticed by the outside world. They were basically given an ultimatum by the FAA, Transport Canada, and the EU to totally rebuild and rethink their training program or face being banned from the skies all over the world. They hired Boeing and Airbus to staff the training centers. KAL has one center and Asiana has another. When I was there (2003-2008) we had about 60 expats conducting training KAL and about 40 at Asiana. Most instructors were from the USA, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand with a few stuffed in from Europe and Asia. Boeing also operated training centers in Singapore and China so they did hire some instructors from there.
This solution has only been partially successful but still faces ingrained resistance from the Koreans. I lost track of the number of highly qualified instructors I worked with who were fired because they tried to enforce normal standards of performance. By normal standards, I would include being able to master basic tasks like successfully shoot a visual approach with 10 kt crosswind and the weather CAVOK. I am not kidding when I tell you that requiring them to shoot a visual approach struck fear in their hearts ... with good reason. Like this Asiana crew, it didn’t compute that you needed to be a 1000 AGL at 3 miles and your sink rate should be 600-800 Ft/Min. But, after 5 years, they finally nailed me. I still had to sign my name to their training and sometimes if I just couldnt pass someone on a check, I had no choice but to fail them. I usually busted about 3-5 crews a year and the resistance against me built. I finally failed an extremely incompetent crew and it turned out he was the a high-ranking captain who was the Chief Line Check pilot on the fleet I was teaching on. I found out on my next monthly trip home that KAL was not going to renew my Visa. The crew I failed was given another check and continued a fly while talking about how unfair Captain Brown was.
Any of you Boeing glass-cockpit guys will know what I mean when I describe these events. I gave them a VOR approach with an 15 mile arc from the IAF. By the way, KAL dictated the profiles for all sessions and we just administered them. He requested two turns in holding at the IAF to get set up for the approach. When he finally got his nerve up, he requested Radar Vectors to final. He could have just said he was ready for the approach and I would have cleared him to the IAF and then Cleared for the approach and he could have selected Exit Hold and been on his way. He was already in LNAV/VNAV PATH. So, I gave him vectors to final with a 30 degree intercept. Of course, he failed to Extend the FAF and he couldnt understand why it would not intercept the LNAV magenta line when he punched LNAV and VNAV. He made three approaches and missed approaches before he figured out that his active waypoint was Hold at XYZ. Every time he punched LNAV, it would try to go back to the IAF ... just like it was supposed to do. Since it was a check, I was not allowed (by their own rules) to offer him any help. That was just one of about half dozen major errors I documented in his UNSAT paperwork. He also failed to put in ANY aileron on takeoff with a 30-knot direct crosswind (again, the weather was dictated by KAL).
This Asiana SFO accident makes me sick and while I am surprised there are not more, I expect that there will be many more of the same type accidents in the future unless some drastic steps are taken. They are already required to hire a certain percentage of expats to try to ingrain more flying expertise in them, but more likely, they will eventually be fired too. One of the best trainees I ever had was a Korean/American (he grew up and went to school in the USA) who flew C-141s in the USAF. When he got out, he moved back to Korea and got hired by KAL. I met him when I gave him some training and a check on the B-737 and of course, he breezed through the training. I give him annual PCs for a few years and he was always a good pilot. Then, he got involved with trying to start a pilots union and when they tired to enforce some sort of duty rigs on international flights, he was fired after being arrested and JAILED!
The Koreans are very very bright and smart so I was puzzled by their inability to fly an airplane well. They would show up on Day 1 of training (an hour before the scheduled briefing time, in a 3-piece suit, and shined shoes) with the entire contents of the FCOM and Flight Manual totally memorized. But, putting that information to actual use was many times impossible. Crosswind landings are also an unsolvable puzzle for most of them. I never did figure it out completely, but I think I did uncover a few clues. Here is my best guess. First off, their educational system emphasizes ROTE memorization from the first day of school as little kids. As you know, that is the lowest form of learning and they act like robots. They are also taught to NEVER challenge authority and in spite of the flight training heavily emphasizing CRM/CLR, it still exists either on the surface or very subtly. You just cant change 3000 years of culture.
The other thing that I think plays an important role is the fact that there is virtually NO civil aircraft flying in Korea. Its actually illegal to own a Cessna-152 and just go learn to fly. Ultra-lights and Powered Hang Gliders are Ok. I guess they dont trust the people to not start WW III by flying 35 miles north of Inchon into North Korea. But, they dont get the kids who grew up flying (and thinking for themselves) and hanging around airports. They do recruit some kids from college and send then to the US or Australia and get them their tickets. Generally, I had better experience with them than with the ex-Military pilots. This was a surprise to me as I spent years as a Naval Aviator flying fighters after getting my private in light airplanes. I would get experienced F-4, F-5, F-15, and F-16 pilots who were actually terrible pilots if they had to hand fly the airplane. What a shock!
Finally, Ill get off my box and talk about the total flight hours they claim. I do accept that there are a few talented and free-thinking pilots that I met and trained in Korea. Some are still in contact and I consider them friends. They were a joy! But, they were few and far between and certainly not the norm.
Actually, this is a worldwide problem involving automation and the auto-flight concept. Take one of these new first officers that got his ratings in the US or Australia and came to KAL or Asiana with 225 flight hours. After takeoff, in accordance with their SOP, he calls for the autopilot to be engaged at 250 after takeoff. How much actual flight time is that? Hardly one minute. Then he might fly for hours on the autopilot and finally disengage it (MAYBE?) below 800 after the gear was down, flaps extended and on airspeed (autothrottle) . Then he might bring it in to land. Again, how much real flight time or real experience did he get. Minutes! Of course, on the 777 or 747, its the same only they get more inflated logbooks.
So, when I hear that a 10,000 hour Korean captain was vectored in for a 17-mile final and cleared for a visual approach in CAVOK weather, it raises the hair on the back of my neck.
Tom
It’s unlikely, but it could have been an incidental flash rather than a directed attack. Could also be a habitual attack that finally zapped a pilot.
“Laser beam? Unlikely. This happened during the daylight hours. How would the person know how to direct the laser beam without being able to see the beam was going?”
True enough. While green lasers can go for a couple of miles or more, you can only see the beam itself from the reflection of dust (or moisture droplets) in the air, which you can see only at night.
I don’t get FX, sorry.
That’s really encouraging for those who fly with Korean pilots...
In the Beatles song Over Me, I thought they were saying He Got Georgia football when they say Trojan football.
Have to hear it to see how Trojan sounds like Georgia in the song!
Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night...
deuce ==> 1932 Ford Coupe
douche ==> occupant of white hut
Regards,
GtG
It wasn’t much fun controlling them, or actually, keeping them from running into danger or hitting someone else, because they DID NOT follow your instructions.
You ought to see them on the freeway...
Well, technically it's not rocket science - any telescopic sight would do the trick. Light rays do not bend much, usually, and when they do they do it identically for the laser and for the scope.
But I cannot imagine why would anyone want to paint an airplane with a laser in daylight. Human eyes at that time are adapted to bright light and are less sensitive to extraneous illumination. Whatever those laser guys do, they want some effect from their actions (they are illegal.) That effect would be minimal during daytime.
There could be plenty of reflections from glass buildings on the ground. That would be likely ... and at the same time expected and harmless.
Was there a Pink Floyd concert in the vicinity of the airport?
Any discussion of this on the Cockpit recorder? You’d think there might be. If he was blinded, why continue with the approach? At 500’, 30 seconds before touchdown, there’s still plenty of time to power up and go around. I knew the inconsistent stories would surface once the pilots and Asiana thought they had their stories straight.
Also known as the 'ohnosecond'.
Yoko? In her case, both would apply...
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