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Asiana to Bolster Pilot Training After Plane Crash, Asiana Airlines to Bolster Its Pilot Training
(about 9 hours later)
SEOUL — Asiana Airlines of South Korea said on Monday that it would increase training for its pilots, following the recent crash of one of its Boeing 777 jets at San Francisco International Airport. SEOUL, South Korea — Asiana Airlines of South Korea said Monday that it would increase training for its pilots after the crash of one of its Boeing 777 jets at San Francisco International Airport.
Asiana will give special safety training, including an enhanced program for visual approaches and automated flight, to all of its pilots. It said it would also strengthen its training programs for those switching to a new type of jet, a senior executive said in a presentation to the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.Asiana will give special safety training, including an enhanced program for visual approaches and automated flight, to all of its pilots. It said it would also strengthen its training programs for those switching to a new type of jet, a senior executive said in a presentation to the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The Asiana report was released by the ministry, which gathered representatives of all South Korean airline companies on Monday to stress safety following the July 6 crash. Three Chinese teenagers were killed and over 180 injured when the Asiana flight crash-landed. The Asiana report was released by the ministry, which on Monday gathered representatives of all South Korean airline companies to stress safety after the July 6 crash. Three Chinese teenagers were killed and more than 180 injured when the Asiana flight crash-landed.
The South Korean pilot, Lee Kang-guk, who was in training for the 777, was landing the plane at the San Francisco airport for the first time, making a visual approach.The South Korean pilot, Lee Kang-guk, who was in training for the 777, was landing the plane at the San Francisco airport for the first time, making a visual approach.
He had logged more than 9,700 hours of flying on Airbus A320s, Boeing 737s and Boeing 747s, but he had just 43 hours of flying time with 777s and had made eight landings with them. A senior colleague with more experience landing 777s sat beside him as co-pilot but he was flying as a 777 instructor for the first time. He had logged more than 9,700 hours of flying on Airbus A320s, Boeing 737s and Boeing 747s, but he had only 43 hours of flying time with 777s and had made eight landings with them. A senior colleague with more experience landing 777s sat beside him as co-pilot, but he was flying as a 777 instructor for the first time.
As Asiana prepares to bolster its training, the crash has created a debate among pilots in the United States about training, automation and cultural factors. The crash is the third involving a fatal error by a Korean carrier on American territory in which crew coordination appears to have been a factor. There is also a lingering argument about pilots relying too much on automation. The Boeing 777 crashed on July 6 during a manual landing.
For example, a posting circulating on the Internet argues that over-reliance on automation has resulted in the atrophy of basic flying skills. Soon after the crash, Thomas W. Brown, an American who retired from an airline based in the United States and who is said to have worked for five years for a Boeing subsidiary that trains Koreans, wrote about the over-reliance on automation. One problem, according to Mr. Brown, is that South Korea has no network of small airports with private planes to nurture flying skills in young people.
Mr. Brown said in a telephone interview that the problem was not restricted to Koreans or Asians, but that over-dependence on automation was making most pilots’ experience less meaningful. “You get the autopilot on at 250 feet over the ground and you keep it on for 16 hours, until one minute before touchdown, and you really don’t get any flying experience,” he said.
Mr. Brown also cited the 1997 crash of a Korean Airlines Boeing 747 in Guam. In that case, the junior crew member in the cockpit, a flight engineer, unsuccessfully sought to warn the captain of errors that were making the plane fly too low.
Pilots are also calling attention to the crash of an advanced version of the Boeing 737 flown by Air India Express at Mangalore in May 2010.
In that crash, the first officer suggested breaking off the approach because the plane was far too high, but the captain, who had been asleep for most of the flight, tried to land anyway. The crash killed 158 people.
The issue of undue deference to the pilot operating the plane is a question for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is looking into whether there was an “authority gradient” between the pilot at the controls of the Asiana plane and the pilot who was supposed to be monitoring him and a third pilot in the jump seat, neither of whom intervened.

Choe Sang-Hun reported from Seoul, South Korea, and Matthew L. Wald from Washington.