Asiana passengers were told to stay seated after crash, officials say

SAN FRANCISCO — After Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash-landed on a San Francisco International Airport runway, did a full spin and skidded to a halt, flight attendants told passengers to stay in their seats and not evacuate, officials said Wednesday.

The cockpit told flight attendants to wait while crew communicated with air traffic controllers, National Transportation Safety Board director Deborah A.P. Hersman told reporters. Evacuation began about 90 seconds after the plane stopped moving, when a senior flight attendant spotted flames on the right side of the plane.

“We don’t know what the pilots were thinking,” Hersman said. Some crews wait to evacuate until first responders arrive, she said, and the pilots may not have realized that flames were nearing the cabin.

Investigators interviewed six of the plane’s 12 flight attendants, who provided more details about the crash Saturday. Six more remained hospitalized and had not been interviewed Tuesday.

The plane was too high at points during the landing and too low in others. Initial information about the plane’s automatic settings suggests that the pilots relied on technology to help regulate the plane’s speed and orientation. The pilots noticed shortly before the crash that the auto-throttle — which controls power, and helps with landing and takeoff — had not been maintaining a target speed of about 158 mph.

In the 2 1/2 minutes before the crash, the pilots used multiple auto-throttle modes and multiple auto-pilot settings, Hersman said. How the auto-throttle was being used, whether it was engaged and how much the crew knew about using it is still unclear.

Modern automation systems are more sophisticated than cruise control in a car, Hersman said. Flight computers can complete a fully automated landing in zero visibility conditions.

“But there are two pilots in the cockpit for a reason,” Hersman said. “They’re there to fly, to navigate, to communicate and if they’re using automation, a big key is to monitor.

Flying pilot Lee Kang-kook told Korean media that he had temporarily been blinded by a bright flash of light about 500 feet above the runway. When questioned, Hersman said he had relayed some of that information to investigators.

“We really don’t know what it could have been,” Hersman said. “We need to understand what he’s talking about.”

She said investigators will continue to probe the relationships inside the cockpit, including whether flying pilot Lee Kang-kook and other junior crew members were comfortable questioning the authority of pilot in command Lee Jung-min, who was supervising the landing.

“We’re certainly interested to see if there are any challenges to crew communication, if there’s an authority gradient where people won’t challenge one another,” Hersman said.

The flight from Seoul to San Francisco was the first time Lee Kang-kook had flown under Lee Jung-min’s instruction; it was Lee Jung-min’s first flight as a training captain in the Boeing 777. Lee Kang-kook had competed about half the hours he needed to be certified on flying the plane without supervision.

The night before the flight, both pilots had a full night of sleep, Hersman said. Both arrived early to prepare to take command of the jet. Two relief pilots took over for about five hours during the flight so the pilots could rest.

The tail of the Boeing 777 broke off when the plane slammed into a sea wall, ejecting three flight attendants sitting at the back of the plane, Hersman said. All remain hospitalized.

After the plane hit a second time, two evacuation slides on the front portion of the Boeing’s right side deployed inside the plane, trapping two more flight attendants. Hersman said the manufacturer of the evacuation slides is working with investigators to determine why they malfunctioned.

Two teenagers from China were killed in the crash. Scores more were injured. It was the biggest commercial jet accident since 2009.

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