Asiana Airlines Flight 214

Asiana Airlines Flight 214
Accident summary
HL7742, the aircraft involved in the incident, about to land at Hong Kong International Airport in July 2011
Date	July 6, 2013
Site	San Francisco International Airport 37°36′48″N 122°21′53″W / 37.61333°N 122.36472°W / 37.61333; -122.36472Coordinates: 37°36′48″N 122°21′53″W / 37.61333°N 122.36472°W / 37.61333; -122.36472
Passengers	291^[1]
Crew	16^[1]
Injuries (non-fatal)	182, at least 5 critical^[2]
Fatalities	2^[3]^[4]
Survivors	305
Aircraft type	Boeing 777-200ER
Operator	Asiana Airlines
Registration	HL7742
Flight origin	Incheon International Airport
Destination	San Francisco International Airport

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was a scheduled transpacific passenger flight from Incheon International Airport, South Korea, to San Francisco International Airport, United States. On July 6, 2013, the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER operating the flight crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport, killing two and injuring 182 of the 307 (291 passengers and 16 crew) aboard. It was the first fatal crash involving the 777 after over 18 years of service.^[1]^[5]

[hide]

Crash

Location of the remainder of the fuselage

On July 6, 2013, at 11:26 PDT (18:26 UTC), a Boeing 777-200ER, registration number HL7742,^[6] crashed at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) upon landing, short of runway 28L's threshold, striking the seawall that projects into San Francisco Bay.^[7]^[8]^[9] Both engines and the tail section behind the aft pressure bulkhead became separated from the aircraft.^[10] The vertical and both horizontal stabilizers came to rest on the runway before the threshold, while the remainder of the fuselage and wings halted to the left side of the runway about 2,000 feet (610 m) from the seawall.^[11] Eyewitnesses described a large brief fireball upon the aircraft landing, and a second large explosion minutes after the impact, with a large, dark plume of smoke rising from the fuselage. Evacuation slides were deployed on one side of the plane, and were used to evacuate the aircraft,^[10]^[12] and, despite damage, "many [...] were able to walk away on their own".^[13]
The Instrument Landing System (ILS) and consequently the navigational glidepath on runway 28L had been out of service since June 11, and at the time of the crash.^[14] Arrivals were standard visual arrivals, helped by the clear weather at the time.^[15] Aviation safety commentator Chesley Sullenberger said a project to increase the runway safety zone required pilots to temporarily rely on sight instead of electronics with automated warnings. He said this project will be looked at as a possible factor in the crash. As part of the same project the airport planned to add, by 2015, porous concrete to the end of the runway to absorb the impact of an airplane.^[16]
This was the third fatal crash in Asiana's 25-year history.^[17] It was the first fatal crash of a Boeing 777. It was also the first fatal passenger airliner crash in the United States since the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash in 2009.^[18]
This was the third hull loss of a Boeing 777 and the second involving a short landing at the end of a long-haul flight. The Boeing 777-200ER that was involved in the incident was originally delivered to Asiana Airlines in March 2006.^[19]

Passengers and crew

The plane had a crew of 16 people and a total of 291 passengers: 141 Chinese, 77 South Korean, 61 American, 3 Indian, 3 Canadian, 1 Vietnamese, 1 French, and 1 Japanese.^[20]
At a press conference held at the airport, Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department Joanne Hayes-White confirmed that there were two deaths; both were Chinese passport holders and female teenagers (both 16 years old)^[4]^[21] with both bodies found outside the aircraft.^[2] According to a hospital spokesperson, five people were in critical condition.^[2] Nine area hospitals accepted a total of 182 injured.^[3] During a later airport press conference, airport spokesman Doug Yakel said only one person was unaccounted for,^[22] down from 60 reported earlier.^[3] During an additional press conference, Hayes-White stated all persons had been accounted for after reconciliation of two intake points at the airport.^[23]
Xinhua stated that 70 students and teachers traveling to the United States for a summer camp were among the Chinese passengers. According to Reuters, "local authorities" stated that 30 of the students and teachers were from Shanxi and the others were from Zhejiang.^[18] Of the students and teachers, 34 were from Jiangshan High School in Zhejiang, traveling together in one group. The group consisted of 5 teachers and 29 students.^[24] The provincial education department of Shanxi said that one teacher received minor injuries. The two deceased passengers, 16-year-old girls, were students at Jiangshan High School. The other Jiangshan students survived the crash.^[18]

Aftermath

Smoke rising from the wreckage, as seen from another flight on the taxiway

The cause of the crash remains unknown.^[9] This was the first instance of a passenger fatality in the service record of the Boeing 777 series.^[25]
The airport was closed for approximately five hours after the crash,^[10]^[12]^[7] and incoming flights destined for San Francisco were diverted to the other major airports in the San Francisco Bay Area or to Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Seattle.^[26] By 3:30 PDT (22:30 UTC), runways 01L/19R and 01R/19L were reopened, with the runway of the accident (10R/28L) and the one in parallel to it (10L/28R) remaining closed.^[7]

Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board has begun an investigation and sent a crew to the scene.^[3] Asiana CEO Yoon Young-Doo said, "Currently we understand that there were no engine or mechanical problems." The preliminary indications suggest the plane came in too short and hit the seawall as it attempted to land.^[10] On July 7, 2013, NTSB investigators recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder and transported them to Washington, D.C. for analysis.^[27]