Asiana Flight 214: Updates From The NTSB Investigation

A news briefing is underway on Asiana Airlines Flight 214, the jetliner that crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport this past weekend. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Deborah Hersman updates the media and the public on the investigation into the crash that killed two passengers and injured dozens.

Here are details from today’s briefing:

The flying pilot had the day off before the flight began. He says he got 8 hours of sleep, and came to the airport six hours before the flight. He was in the cockpit about 30 minutes before the trip began.

The instructor pilot also says he had 8 hours of sleep, and spent some time relaxing with his family. He came to the airport at 2:20 p.m.

In the cockpit, the two main pilots worked about 4 hours and 15 minutes, and then the relief crew of another two pilots took over for the middle of the flight. The original two pilots came back for the final hour and a half of the flight.

Update at 5:40 p.m. ET: On Automation And Plane’s Approach

Referring to slideshow of the plane’s approach to the airport over the water, Hersman describes how the plane came in.

At 11:26, Asiana 214 checked in for final approach, and did not get an immediate reply. They soon checked in again, and were given a landing clearance — when the plane “was about a mile-and-a-half from the threshold.”

The evidence shows that “in the last two and a half minutes of the flight,” there were multiple modes enabled of auto-pilot and auto-throttle, Hersman says.

Our original post continues:

Of the Boeing 777’s automatic systems, Hersman says “They can be simple, or they can be sophisticated.”

In this case, they’re sophisticated, she says. But she adds that pilots can take off, fly, and land without any automation if they choose.

On the other hand, “You can have limited visibility — you can not be able to approach the airport in visible conditions — and the airplane can land itself.”

She says that automation “can help maintain a level of safety and efficiency in the cockpit.”

“Pilots are trained to monitor,” Hersman says. And they designate between two pilots, with one flying and one monitoring.