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| Asiana President Says Pilot Was in Training | Asiana President Says Pilot Was in Training |
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| SEOUL, South Korea — It was Lee Kang-guk’s first attempt to land a Boeing 777 at San Francisco International Airport, and it ended in disaster. The crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on Saturday killed two passengers, injured 180 others and tarnished the reputation of South Korea’s aviation industry, whose leaders had thought it was leaving a poor safety record behind. | SEOUL, South Korea — It was Lee Kang-guk’s first attempt to land a Boeing 777 at San Francisco International Airport, and it ended in disaster. The crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on Saturday killed two passengers, injured 180 others and tarnished the reputation of South Korea’s aviation industry, whose leaders had thought it was leaving a poor safety record behind. |
| “For him, this was a training flight, as he was switching to a new type of plane,” Asiana Airlines’ president, Yoon Young-doo, said Monday of Mr. Lee. | “For him, this was a training flight, as he was switching to a new type of plane,” Asiana Airlines’ president, Yoon Young-doo, said Monday of Mr. Lee. |
| Mr. Lee, 46, a 19-year veteran with Asiana, has logged more than 9,700 hours of flying, piloting A320s and Boeing 737s and 747s to various destinations, including San Francisco. He had just 43 hours of flying time with Boeing 777s, and had made eight landings with them, in London, Los Angeles and Narita, Japan. He was still on a "familiarization flight" program when he was at the controls Saturday; a senior colleague with more experience landing 777s, including at San Francisco, sat beside him as co-pilot. | Mr. Lee, 46, a 19-year veteran with Asiana, has logged more than 9,700 hours of flying, piloting A320s and Boeing 737s and 747s to various destinations, including San Francisco. He had just 43 hours of flying time with Boeing 777s, and had made eight landings with them, in London, Los Angeles and Narita, Japan. He was still on a "familiarization flight" program when he was at the controls Saturday; a senior colleague with more experience landing 777s, including at San Francisco, sat beside him as co-pilot. |
| Choi Jong-ho, a senior aviation policy official with South Korea’s Transportation Ministry, said Monday that South Korean investigators had arrived in San Francisco and interviewed the four pilots on Flight 214, who worked two-man shifts during the flight. He refused to speculate about whether the cockpit decision to let Mr. Lee, instead of one of his more experienced colleagues, land the plane had contributed to the accident; he said that investigators, including those from the United States National Transportation Safety Board, were looking into all possibilities. | Choi Jong-ho, a senior aviation policy official with South Korea’s Transportation Ministry, said Monday that South Korean investigators had arrived in San Francisco and interviewed the four pilots on Flight 214, who worked two-man shifts during the flight. He refused to speculate about whether the cockpit decision to let Mr. Lee, instead of one of his more experienced colleagues, land the plane had contributed to the accident; he said that investigators, including those from the United States National Transportation Safety Board, were looking into all possibilities. |
| Any challenge to the pilots would have been further complicated by the shutdown of a ground-based electronic system called a glide slope indicator, which helps keep planes at the correct descent angle. But the pilots had been notified that the system had been turned off, government and Asiana officials here said. | |
| “Ultimately, it’s the trainer pilot who is responsible for the flight,” Mr. Yoon, the Asiana president, said, referring to Lee Jeong-min, 49, the more experienced pilot who sat in the co-pilot’s seat when Lee Kang-guk was landing the plane. He had 3,220 hours of flying time with 777s. | “Ultimately, it’s the trainer pilot who is responsible for the flight,” Mr. Yoon, the Asiana president, said, referring to Lee Jeong-min, 49, the more experienced pilot who sat in the co-pilot’s seat when Lee Kang-guk was landing the plane. He had 3,220 hours of flying time with 777s. |
| “Familiarization flights” are part of the routine for pilots learning to fly a new kind of plane, officials at both the Transportation Ministry and Asiana said. At Asiana, the pilots are required to go through manual and simulator training — Asiana has run its own simulator training center since 1998 — and make 20 familiarization flights in the presence of more experienced “mentor” or “trainer” pilots. | “Familiarization flights” are part of the routine for pilots learning to fly a new kind of plane, officials at both the Transportation Ministry and Asiana said. At Asiana, the pilots are required to go through manual and simulator training — Asiana has run its own simulator training center since 1998 — and make 20 familiarization flights in the presence of more experienced “mentor” or “trainer” pilots. |
| The crash Saturday was Asiana’s third accident involving fatalities since its founding in 1988. In 1993, a 737 domestic flight crashed into a mountain while making a descent amid high winds and poor visibility. Sixty-six people were killed in the crash, which was attributed to pilot error. In 2011, a 747 cargo jet bound for Shanghai crashed into the sea off Korea’s southern coast, killing two pilots. An inquiry blamed mechanical problems. | The crash Saturday was Asiana’s third accident involving fatalities since its founding in 1988. In 1993, a 737 domestic flight crashed into a mountain while making a descent amid high winds and poor visibility. Sixty-six people were killed in the crash, which was attributed to pilot error. In 2011, a 747 cargo jet bound for Shanghai crashed into the sea off Korea’s southern coast, killing two pilots. An inquiry blamed mechanical problems. |
| South Korea’s aviation industry long had a tarnished safety record that mainly involved Asiana’s bigger, older domestic rival, Korean Air. In 1983, a Soviet fighter jet shot down a Korean Air 747, killing all 269 people on board. In 1987, a Korean Air 707 disintegrated over waters near Myanmar in an explosion that South Korea attributed to a North Korean terrorist attack. All 115 people on board were killed. | South Korea’s aviation industry long had a tarnished safety record that mainly involved Asiana’s bigger, older domestic rival, Korean Air. In 1983, a Soviet fighter jet shot down a Korean Air 747, killing all 269 people on board. In 1987, a Korean Air 707 disintegrated over waters near Myanmar in an explosion that South Korea attributed to a North Korean terrorist attack. All 115 people on board were killed. |
| Eighty people died in 1989 when a Korean Air DC10 passenger jet crashed while landing in Tripoli, Libya. In 1997, a Korean Air 747 slammed into a hill while approaching the airport in Guam, killing 225 people. | Eighty people died in 1989 when a Korean Air DC10 passenger jet crashed while landing in Tripoli, Libya. In 1997, a Korean Air 747 slammed into a hill while approaching the airport in Guam, killing 225 people. |
| Since then, South Korea has tightened safety regulations and pilot qualification requirements, as well as improving pilot training. It also has struggled to address long-running skepticism over its cockpit culture. | Since then, South Korea has tightened safety regulations and pilot qualification requirements, as well as improving pilot training. It also has struggled to address long-running skepticism over its cockpit culture. |
| With most pilots recruited from the air force, strict hierarchy ruled among South Korean pilots, so much so that investigators and critics at the time said that co-pilots were not able to challenge the pilots even when there was an obvious mistake. Both Asiana and Korean Air have been gradually hiring more nonveterans, including foreign pilots, partly because there were not enough South Korean Air Force veterans to meet the rising demand for pilots — especially in recent years, when they expanded overseas routes as budget airlines joined the competition for the domestic market. Now they fill roughly half of the cockpits. (Mr. Lee was one of them, joining Asiana in 1994 as a trainee pilot.) | With most pilots recruited from the air force, strict hierarchy ruled among South Korean pilots, so much so that investigators and critics at the time said that co-pilots were not able to challenge the pilots even when there was an obvious mistake. Both Asiana and Korean Air have been gradually hiring more nonveterans, including foreign pilots, partly because there were not enough South Korean Air Force veterans to meet the rising demand for pilots — especially in recent years, when they expanded overseas routes as budget airlines joined the competition for the domestic market. Now they fill roughly half of the cockpits. (Mr. Lee was one of them, joining Asiana in 1994 as a trainee pilot.) |
| The reform effort seemed a success when South Korea was ranked No. 1 in a safety assessment of member countries of the International Civil Aviation Organization in 2008. But a 12-year streak with no accidents ended with Asiana’s crash in 2011. | The reform effort seemed a success when South Korea was ranked No. 1 in a safety assessment of member countries of the International Civil Aviation Organization in 2008. But a 12-year streak with no accidents ended with Asiana’s crash in 2011. |
| Asiana has struggled in the shadow of the national flag-carrier, Korean Air. It began business in the same year South Korea hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics. The military dictatorship at the time gave the license to the Kumho Asiana transportation and construction conglomerate after deciding that the country needed a second airline to boost its international appeal as a rising “Asian Tiger” economy. | Asiana has struggled in the shadow of the national flag-carrier, Korean Air. It began business in the same year South Korea hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics. The military dictatorship at the time gave the license to the Kumho Asiana transportation and construction conglomerate after deciding that the country needed a second airline to boost its international appeal as a rising “Asian Tiger” economy. |
| Asiana now runs 91 international passenger routes, 28 cargo routes and 14 domestic routes. It operates a fleet of 80 aircraft. Once focused on routes to Japan and China and elsewhere in Asia, the company has been rapidly expanding into North American and European markets, especially since the United States included South Korean travelers in its Visa Waiver Program in 2008. It purchased 11 jets last year and plans to buy 8 this year. It has separately placed orders to buy six Airbus A380s and 30 A350s, beginning in 2014, to meet growing mid- to long-range passenger demands. The company recorded 5.6 trillion won, or $4.9 billion, in revenues last year, and employs about 9,595 people. | Asiana now runs 91 international passenger routes, 28 cargo routes and 14 domestic routes. It operates a fleet of 80 aircraft. Once focused on routes to Japan and China and elsewhere in Asia, the company has been rapidly expanding into North American and European markets, especially since the United States included South Korean travelers in its Visa Waiver Program in 2008. It purchased 11 jets last year and plans to buy 8 this year. It has separately placed orders to buy six Airbus A380s and 30 A350s, beginning in 2014, to meet growing mid- to long-range passenger demands. The company recorded 5.6 trillion won, or $4.9 billion, in revenues last year, and employs about 9,595 people. |
| Asiana shares fell 5.76 percent on Monday, the first day of trading since the accident, in a South Korean market that was weaker overall. | Asiana shares fell 5.76 percent on Monday, the first day of trading since the accident, in a South Korean market that was weaker overall. |
| On Monday, Asiana again offered a “heartfelt” apology for Saturday’s crash. A news report from China says families of the children onboard Flight 214, accompanied by government officials, boarded a flight to San Francisco on Monday. | On Monday, Asiana again offered a “heartfelt” apology for Saturday’s crash. A news report from China says families of the children onboard Flight 214, accompanied by government officials, boarded a flight to San Francisco on Monday. |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: July 8, 2013 | |
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the ground-based system that helps keep planes at the correct descent angle. It is a glide slope indicator, not a glide scope indicator. |