Flight 214 Essay

On July 6, 2013 at around 11:28 am PST, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777, Flight 214 was on visual final approach to San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) runway 28L when it struck a seawall located at the end of the runway and subsequently crashed. When the aircraft impacted the seawall the main landing gear broke off and the aft fuselage separated at the main bulkhead. As the 777 slid down the runway it managed to partially lift into the air, rotate about 330 degrees and finally came to rest after it impacted the runway a second time (NTSB). The right engine which separated from the aircraft landed adjacent to the main fuselage and caught fire. While tragic, the final outcome of the crash could have been far worse given the major structural damage the 777 sustained. Of the 291 passengers, 12 flight attendants and 4 flight crew members aboard, 3 of the passengers were fatally injured and 40 passengers, 8 flight attendants and 1 of the flight crew were seriously hurt (NTSB). Evidence investigated in the aftermath of the crash would lead NTSB and Asiana to ultimately conclude that the accident was the result of the crew’s mismanagement of the descent during approach and the follow-on effect of the

As the investigation unfolded it was clear that there were multiple root causes that contributed to the series of unfortunate miscalculations and mismanagement of the flight. The NTSB’s 4-member Safety Panel investigating the accident surmised that there were multiple causal factors at work such as pilot capability deficiencies, physiology, training, aeronautical decision making, communication, assertiveness, and group dynamics; all of which contributed to the final conclusion that the accident was due to pilot error. The senior air safety investigator Roger Cox noted that “there are cascading errors. Some were corrected” as the flight was on approach to the airport (Asiana