Boeing 777 San Francisco Crash: Asiana Airlines pilot tried to abort landing

The Boeing 777 from  Asiana Airlines that crashed at San Francisco's airport on Saturday was travelling "below" its intended air speed and its pilot tried to abort the landing just seconds before it hit a seawall in front of the runway, the US National Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday, July 7.



Eye Witness Video of Asiana Boeing 777 Crash in San Francisco

Information collected from the plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder indicated that there were no signs of trouble until seven seconds before impact, when the crew tried to accelerate, NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said at a news conference at the airport

A stall warning sounded four seconds before impact, and the crew tried to abort the landing and initiate what's known as a "go around" manoeuvre just 1.5 seconds before crashing, Hersman said.

Asiana said mechanical failure did not appear to be a factor in the crash. Hersman confirmed that a part of the airport's instrument-landing system was offline on Saturday but cautioned against drawing conclusions from that, noting that the so-called glide slope system was not essential to safe operations in good weather. She said it was a clear day with good visibility.

The impact knocked off the plane's tail and the aircraft appeared to bounce violently, scattering a trail of debris and spinning before coming to rest on the tarmac.

Twits from the Crash

I just crash landed at SFO': Samsung executive tweets dramatic escape from burning Boeing 777

[caption id="attachment_1538" align="alignnone" width="600"] David Eun Boeing 777 Crash Survivor Photo[/caption]

In a tweet sent at 12.13pm (PDT) Mr Eun said: 'I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm ok ... surreal.'

Mr Eun, executive vice-president of Samsung Electronic's global media services, added that emergency services were helping the injured off the plane, and added: 'I haven't felt this way since 9/11.'