Aviation
Asiana Airlines Flight 214
No longer accepting claims for this case
- Location: San Francisco, Calif.
- Date: July 6, 2013
- Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
Motley Rice aviation attorneys currently represent survivors of the tragic Asiana Airlines Flight 214, which crashed on landing at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, 2013. View related interviews with Motley Rice attorneys.
The NTSB issues official statement on the probable cause of the July 2013 crash of Asiana Flight 214
June 24, 2014
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flight crew’s mismanagement of the airplane’s descent during the visual approach, the pilot flying’s unintended deactivation of automatic airspeed control, the flight crew’s inadequate monitoring of airspeed, and the flight crew’s delayed execution of a go-around after they became aware that the airplane was below acceptable glidepath and airspeed tolerances.” Read More.
Of the 291 passengers and 16 crew members aboard, three were fatally injured and 49 were severely injured. Passengers included residents of the United States, Korea, China and Canada.
Download the Motley Rice aviation brochure in Chinese*
*Motley Rice attorneys have associated Chinese speaking co-counsel for Asiana Flight 214 clients.
About the Asiana Airlines Flight 2014 Crash
On June 24, 2014, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident report summary of the crash concluded that the flight crew mismanaged the airplane’s descent, coming in at the wrong speed and angle. The main landing gear and aft fuselage struck the San Francisco Airport’s seawall, breaking off the airplane’s tail at the aft pressure bulkhead and causing the main body to lift partially and spin before impacting the ground a final time and catching fire.
Plane Crash Investigation and Cause Theories
In its summary of likely cause, the NTSB assessment stated that “the flight crew’s insufficient monitoring of airspeed indications during the approach resulted from expectancy, increased work load, fatigue and automation reliance.”
“The responsibility for a safe landing rested on the pilot and Asiana Airlines,” asserted aviation attorney and former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo. “The airplane was more than 30 miles an hour too slow as it approached landing and was also too low. The FAA cleared the plane for a visual landing, and the pilot accepted the visual landing. Air Traffic Control had no further obligation to advise them how to fly the plane in and land it safely.”
December 11, 2013
The NTSB begins its investigative hearing into Asiana Flight 214. Investigation Docket and Docket Items.
July 12, 2013
The crash of Asiana Flight 214 sparked discussions about disclosure of information regarding plane crashes. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) criticized the NTSB for releasing too much information and fueling “rampant speculation about the cause of the accident." Instead of calling for transparency as the government investigated the accident, which impacted hundreds of lives, ALPA called upon the NTSB to refrain from releasing some information.
The NTSB, however, is required to provide open and honest communications and access to information for passengers and relatives of passengers involved in airplane accidents. Its current polices have been advanced in no small part by the efforts of hundreds of families of air disaster victims and survivors, as well as the National Air Disaster Alliance, in promoting the passage of the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996.
Read more about this discussion in Forbes.
