New investigations into the Asiana Airlines flight 214 crash on Saturday show the plane was flying way slower than it was supposed to before it’s crash landing. The flight, with 307 people on-board, was flying into San Francisco from Seoul when the pilot realized it was moving way slower than he intended it too.
According to CNN, the target speed for a plane landing is 137 knots, and flight 214 was flying at a mere 118 knots at the 200 ft mark. Investigators say an alarm sounded four seconds before the crash, warning the crew that the plane might stall. The plane reached its lowest speed, 103 knots, three seconds before landing, and then crashed at a speed of 106 knots. The crew claims that they tried to halt the landing and stay in the air longer about 1.5 seconds before the crash, but did not have enough time.
USA Today reports that the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Deborah Hersman, said,
"This aircraft was significantly slower than their target approach speed of 137 knots," which is the speed they wanted to reach the end of the runway.”
Investigators have found that both of the engines were working at the time of the crash and are now looking into the crew and pilot of the plane to see if they are to blame.
The pilot, Lee Kang-Kuk, had flown from Seoul to San Francisco numerous times from 1999-2004. Although he had flown the particular model of the plane, the Boeing 777, nine times, he had never flown it into that airport. For this reason, investigators are looking into possible communicational problems between the pilot and crew members in a state of panic that could have caused the disaster.