In the video above, courtesy of John Suchocki and Eyewitness Animations, we see from a side view the accident aircraft (the grey plane) approach versus a normal aircraft (the blue plane) approach for landing at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The animation is for illustration purposes only, as in reality the blue airplane would be going much faster and would have passed the grey plane well before the latter reached the runway. The investigation into the Asiana crash has thus far revealed that the plane was flying too low and too slow for a safe landing. At the 14 second mark of the video, we clearly see the altitude discrepancy between the approach of the accident aircraft and the correct approach of the normal aircraft.
We also hear one of the pilots ask the tower to perform a “go-around,” which means the flight crew wanted to abort the landing and go around for another attempt. By this point, however, it is too late, as the tail section of the plane slammed into the seawall seconds after the pilots call for a go-around.
Look closely at the aircraft at the 27-second mark. The back of the plane pitches upwards only to slam back down again as the plane spins out of control. This movement may have played a significant role in seriously injuring victims in the crash, especially those seated in the tail section of the plane.
Pilot Perspective/View
In this video courtesy of John Suchoki and Eyewitness Animations, we see the pilot’s view of the approach to San Francisco International Airport. The top perspective is that of a normal approach, and the bottom perspective is that of the pilots of Asiana Flight 214. As you can see, this video demonstrates how low and slow the Asiana approach was. The NTSB reported that the target speed for landing was 137 knots (157.65 miles-per-hour). Seconds before impact, however, the Asiana flight was only doing 103 knots (118.53 miles-per-hour).
In the first few seconds of the video, we see just how much altitude the Asiana plane was losing in such a short amount of time. In fact, the aircraft was going so slow that the pilots received a “stick shaker” warning a few seconds prior to impact, indicating that the plane was on the verge of going into an aerodynamic stall.
A look outside through the windshield even as late as 500 feet above the ground should have alerted the experienced pilots that the sight picture was all wrong, prompting a call for a go-around at that time, if not before.
