Don't Miss

Pilot mismanagement caused Asiana plane crash: NTSB

June 24, 2014

The Boeing 777 plane, operated by the South Korean airliner, struck a seawall as it was landing at the San Francisco International Airport on July 6, 2013. (AP)

By Lee Chi-dong

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Yonhap) – Pilot error was the main cause of last year’s Asiana passenger jet crash, U.S. investigators concluded Tuesday.

They also warned of the risks from over-reliance on automated systems in the cockpit.

“The flight crew over-relied on automated systems that they did not fully understand,” Christopher A. Hart, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said at a board meeting. “As a result, they flew the aircraft too low and too slow, and collided with the seawall at the end of the runway.”

He was referring to the results of the agency’s year-long probe into the accident.

The Boeing 777 plane, operated by the South Korean airliner, struck a seawall as it was landing at the San Francisco International Airport on July 6, 2013. Three Chinese passengers died and more than 180 other people on board were injured.

It was the first fatal commercial airliner crash in the U.S. in almost four and a half years.

Hart cited the risks of using automated systems.

“Automation has unquestionably made aviation safer and more efficient. But the more complex automation becomes, the more challenging it is to ensure that the pilots adequately understand it,” he said.

In the report, the NTSB said Boeing should have flight training manuals that clearly describe how auto throttle works.

It added the pilots’ fatigue seems to have also played a role in the accident. The flight from China via Incheon took more than 10 hours.

The Washington-based agency made a set of safety-related recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, Asiana, Boeing and others.

South Korea’s transportation ministry said it may require an additional probe to decide whether any human error or violation of safety regulations led to the accident.

“We will first have to see NTSB’s final report. What we have so far is what the U.S. agency’s own review committee has examined,” an official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport told Yonhap News Agency, adding NTSB’s final report was expected next month.

“We may need to conduct our own investigation. If the investigation finds any violation of laws or regulations, the government will punish those responsible,” the official from the ministry’s aviation policy division said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Asiana