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Pilot admits landing concerns before crash
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The Asiana Airlines captain who crashed a Boeing 777 at San Francisco International Airport in July told US investigators he was “very concerned” about attempting a visual approach because the runway’s automatic landing aids were out of service due to construction, according to an investigative report released yesterday.
Lee Kang Kuk, a 46-year-old pilot who was landing the big jet for his first time at San Francisco, “stated it was very difficult to perform a visual approach with a heavy airplane.” The plane crash landed after approaching low and slow in an accident that killed three Chinese students and injured over 200 others, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
A visual approach involves lining the jet up for landing by looking through the windshield, as well as using numerous automated cues.
The report was released as a day-long NTSB hearing into the accident began.
“In this hearing, we will learn about the facts of the crash, but we will also learn about the factors that enabled so many to walk away,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman, opening the hearing. “We will focus not only on the human machine interface in highly automated aircraft, but also on emergency response.”
Though Lee was an experienced pilot, he was a trainee on the Boeing 777.
NTSB investigator Bill English said Lee had less than 45 hours experience in the Boeing 777 and it was his first trip to San Francisco since 2004.
Lee told investigators he realized others had been safely landing at San Francisco without the glide slope indicator, an array of antennas that transmits a signal into the cockpit, helping ensure the plane is landing correctly.
That system was out of service while the runway was expanded, and has since been restarted.
But Lee also told investigators he was “not so confident” about his knowledge of the plane’s auto flight system. When asked if he was concerned about his ability to perform the visual approach, Lee said “very concerned, yeah.”
Lee said he told his instructors about his concerns in the flight’s planning stages. He told investigators that as he realized his approach was off, he was worried he might “fail his flight and would be embarrassed.”
Another Asiana pilot who recently flew with Lee told investigators he was not sure if the trainee captain was making normal progress and he did not perform well during a trip two days before the accident. That captain described Lee as “not well organized or prepared,” according to the investigative report.
According to the NTSB’s transcript of the Asiana plane’s cockpit voice recorder, the Korean crew did not comment on the jet’s low approach until it reached 61 meters above ground.
Lee also acknowledged to investigators it took him 20 to 30 seconds to order an evacuation from the shattered jet.
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