• Asiana Airlines Tile
    Asiana Airlines
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    OZ/AAR
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Incheon International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1988
    Alliance:
    Star Alliance
    CEO:
    Han Chang-soo
    Country:
    South Korea
    Region:
    Asia

On July 6, 2013, a seven-year-old Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER with the registration number HL7742 crashed on final approach to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Of the 307 passengers and crew, there were three fatalities and 49 seriously injured. The accident marked the first fatal incident involving a 777 since its introduction into service in 1995.

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Image: GCmaps

On July 6, 2013, Asiana Airlines Flight OZ214 took off from Inchon International Airport (ICN) at 17:04 KST, 34 minutes after its scheduled departure time. Following an uneventful crossing of the Pacific Ocean, the aircraft was expected to land in San Francisco at 11:04 PDT. At the time of the approach, SFO reported 6-7 knot winds with visibility of ten-plus miles.

A pilot training on the Boeing 777 was flying the plane

An instructor pilot was sitting in the right seat while a pilot undergoing training on the Boeing 777 was flying the plane from the left-hand seat. Occupying the jump seat was the flight's relief first officer. The pilot in control of the aircraft had logged 9,700 flying hours, and it was his tenth flight leg training on the Boeing 777.

A month earlier, the instrument landing system's vertical guidance (glide slope) on Runway 28L had been taken out of service, and a notice to air missions was issued. With the ILS out of service, a precision approach on runway 28L was not available.

Operating the controls under the instructor's supervision in the right seat, the pilot flying the plane was cleared to land on runway 28L and told to maintain a speed of 180 knots. With the landing gear down and flaps set at 30 degrees, the target threshold speed was 137 knots. At 1,600 feet, the autopilot was disengaged, and the aircraft descended through 1,400 feet at a speed of 170 knots, slowing down to 149 knots at 1,000 feet.

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At 500 feet, the speed had dropped to 134 knots, three knots below the targeted 137 knots. At 200 feet, the plane's speed had decreased even further to 118 knots. The instructor pilot said he had spotted four red PAPI lights (precision approach path indicator lights - lights beside the runway which provide pilots with a visual indicator of their aircraft's position relative to the correct glide path for the runway) and determined that the autothrottle had not maintained the correct speed. Eight seconds before impact, the throttles were moved forward, with one of the crew calling for the speed to be increased.

Someone on the flight deck then called for a go-around, but it was too late. A part of the landing gear struck a seawall. The aircraft spun left 360 degrees before coming to a stop 2,400 feet down the left side of runway 28L. Adding to the crash was the pilot flying the plane's unintended deactivation of automatic airspeed control.

The NTSB investigation

The NTSB determined that, once it was seen that the aircraft was below the acceptable glide path and airspeed, a go-around should have been performed. The NTSB also noted the following contributing factors to the crash:

  1. In its documentation, Boeing failed to describe the complexities of the 777s autothrottle and autopilot flight director systems.
  2. The crew's non-standard communication and coordination regarding using the autothrottle and autopilot flight director systems.
  3. Inadequate pilot training for planning and executing visual approach landings.
  4. Inadequate monitoring, supervision, and instruction of the pilot flying the aircraft by the instructor pilot.
  5. Fatigue and a downgraded performance following a nearly 11-hour flight.

Asiana promised to work harder

Following the crash, SFO was closed for five hours, with incoming planes diverted to other nearby airports. Two weeks later, Asiana Airlines announced that it would retire flight numbers 214 and 213 and operate new flights between ICN and SFO as OZ212 and OZ211. The Korean airline also said that it would improve the training for pilots learning to fly new types of aircraft and work on better crew communication and fatigue management.

Other major 777 incidents

While the 777 remains one of the safest aircraft of all time, there have been a few incidents resulting in hull losses and fatalities.

On January 17th, 2008, British Airways flight 38 became the first hull loss of the 777 when it crashed just short of Runway 27L at London Heathrow. BA38 was inbound from Beijing after leaving at 02:09 AM UTC, flying over extremely cold regions on its way to the UK.

After flying over very cold temperatures, small water particles in the fuel froze up in the pipes. This became a problem when the thurst was accelerated before landing. The ice particles blocked the fuel-oil heat exchanger (FOHE), preventing the engine from receiving fuel and crashing the jet. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. Other 777 hull losses have occurred in incidents involving Emirates and Egypt Air jets.

The two other fatal incidents involving the type came in 2014 just months apart, both coincidentally involving Malaysia Airlines. The first was in March when a Boeing 777-200ER on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished will all 239 passengers and crew onboard. The cause of its disappearance remains a mystery even today.

That same year another Malaysia Airlines 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in July was brought down after a missile exploded just above and to the left of the cockpit as the plane flew over Ukraine. A Dutch court recently found three men guilty of shooting down the plane. They were tried in absentia, and are likely to never face jail time.

What do you feel about the Boeing 777s safety record compared to other aircraft? Please leave a comment below.