A time line of this preventable tragedy has emerged from the briefings of Deborah Hersman of the NTSB.As of July 12, 2013, the time lines’ key events include the following;
–At 1400 feet, the instructor pilot Lee Jeong-min realized they were slightly high relative to the recommended height and set the rate of descent to 1500 feet per minute. The glideslope (ILS) which provides vertical guidance to keep the plane at the right elevation and angle during its approach on runway 28L was out of commission for maintenance. The plane was flying manually.
— At 1,000 feet, about 54 seconds before the crash, a crew member urged his co-pilots to look at the “sink rate,” or rate of descent. Hersman said the crew had talked about the glide path toward the runway being high, then on target, then low as they descended.
— At 500 feet, 35 seconds before impact, there was an automatic call-out that the plane was at an altitude of 500 feet, followed immediately by a declaration by one of the pilots that the landing check was complete. At 500 feet, the trainer Lee Jeong-min told investigators that he realized the plane was coming in too low and asked Lee Kang-guk to pull back. Hersman said at 200 feet, he noticed what pilots call “a lateral deviation,” which means the airliner was not lined up correctly with the runway.
–At 200 feet, 18 seconds before it crashed. Lee Jeong-min, told investigators that he had noticed that the plane was flying too slowly at 200 feet, yet 9 crucial seconds went by with no recognition of the need to take corrective action, no mention that airspeed was too low, and no automatic alarm warning that the plane was in trouble;
–At 100 feet, 9 seconds before impact, came the first mention by a pilot that speed was a problem. The three pilots in the cockpit voiced no concern about airspeed until the Boeing 777 was 100 feet above the bay, when the jet was well under its target speed and close to stalling, according to an analysis of the flight recorder
–At 3 seconds before impact, one of the pilots called out to abort the landing.
–At 1.5 seconds before impact, another pilot repeated the order.
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