SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Officials investigating a jetliner crash in San Francisco have determined that Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was traveling “significantly below” its target speed as it approached the airport and that the crew tried to abort the landing just before it smashed onto the runway. What they don’t yet know is why, and whether the pilot’s inexperience with this type of aircraft and this airport played a role.
A fire truck sprays water on Asiana Flight 214 after it crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday, July 6, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
This photo provided by Antonette Edwards shows what a federal aviation official says was an Asiana Airlines flight crashing while landing at San Francisco airport on Saturday. (AP Photo/Antonette Edwards)
A day after the jetliner crash-landed in San Francisco, killing two people and injuring more than 180, officials said Sunday that the probe was also focusing on whether the airport or plane’s equipment could have also malfunctioned.
Also Sunday, San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said he was investigating whether one of the two teenage passengers killed actually survived the crash but was run over by a rescue vehicle rushing to aid victims fleeing the burning aircraft. Remarkably, 305 of 307 passengers and crew survived the crash and more than a third didn’t even require hospitalization. Only a small number were critically injured.
Read more: http://www.wjla.com