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| (Reuters) |
What Happened?
On July 6th, 2013, at 11:28 a.m. wst, Boeing B-777-28EER, which is the aircraft of Asiana Airlines, crashed the runway in San Francisco airport. That was when the plane was approaching the runway for landing. The aircraft first departed from Shanghai, stopped by in Incheon, then flew to San Francisco. 307 people were on board, and the crash resulted in 2 fatalities and 182 injured passengers. The tail section, landing gear, and both engines were seperated from the fuselage and a fire erupted. Seeing that the aircraft was broken down badly as in the photo, it surely was a hugh accident.
Why Happened?
It is said that the plane was approaching the runway too slow and too low, and that the pilot had tried to speed up before trying to abort landing, but everything happened so quickly within several seconds.
It has not been revealed that what caused the accident, but there are mainly two possible causes-pilot error or mechanical failure-as they are usually the main causes of many other aircraft accidents. As one of the main causes, news articles say the pilot of the Boeing 777 doesn't have much experience of controlling the aircraft type, but he has experience of about 10,000 hours of being on aircraft, which is enough time for the pilot to be considered as a veteran.
It is also said that the control tower of Sanfranciso Airport corresponded with the pilot so slow that the pilot could not take quick measures, but that seems to need more investigation.
At present, the press seems to put more emphasis on the role of the pilot. According to PlaneCrashInfo, about 50 percent of plane accidents is due to pilot error, followed by mechanical failure, which accounts for 22 percent. Statistically, there are more accidents caused by pilot error, but that couldn't be the clear answer for this accident in San Francisco.
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| (Reuters) |
Behind Stories
Many stories are coming out about the accident, and one of the touching stories is one about the cabin manager of the aircraft, Lee Yoon-hye. She is being called a "hero" in the accident spot. After the crash, she never lost her control and evacuated every passengers quickly, contributing to saving a lot more passengers. She was a professional itself.
Another story covers the two fatalities. It turned out that two Chinese teenagers were killed by the accident. One was killed after the crash, and the other is said to be hit by a car after getting out of the plane. Those two girls are described as close friends, and as smart and nice students at school. They were on their way to summer camp when the accident happened. It is so unfortunate and sad that two youths became the casualties.
Still Under Scrunity...
The exact cause of the accident has not been revealed yet. Some news media say the accident is because of the pilot, and some say it is because of other factors. Korea and US are joint investigating the accident to find out the original cause of the accident, and Korean investigators would join to decode the blackbox of the aircraft. Although many facts about the accidents are floating on the internet, it is too soon to jump into conclusion. I hope public opinion would not result in witch-hunt, and the actual cause of the accident would be revealed as soon as possible.
references
http://planecrashinfo.com/index.html
http://planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm
