National Transportation Safety Board investigators report that the pilots flying the Asiana flight 214 Boeing 777 did not have access to a system designed to assist in safely landing the jet airliner. The glide-slope provides guidance to keep the plane at the correct elevation and angle before landing but was out of service due to runway construction. NTSB Senior Aviation Accident Investigator Bill English is serving as investigator-in-charge. NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman is accompanying the team and will serve as the principal spokesman. Ms. Hersman said the flight data recorder indicates the aircraft’s speed at impact was 106 knots which is well below the aircraft’s target landing speed of 137 knots.
Former TWA pilot Barry Schiff stated that pilots “should always make an approach with power, and they didn’t do that.” The aviation safety expert witness has more than 27,000 hours logged in more than 300 types of aircraft and is the author of over 1,500 articles published in 90 aviation magazines. He is a contributing editor at AOPA Pilot.
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