PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Asiana flight crash at San Francisco
View Single Post
Old 7th Jul 2013, 17:04
  #490 (permalink)  
Agaricus bisporus
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: UK
Posts: 2,584
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm surprised no one has commented on what a narrow escape this event had.

Pictures of the impact on the sea wall show that the Stbd engine struck the ground within the first few yards of the terrain suggesting that the gear must have been some, what? 8 - 10 ft below the level of the landing surface. This would suggest a fuselage impact on the crest of the sea wall fairly close behind the main gear which seems indicated by the photo on the previous page (see distortion of lwr aft fuselage), the detachment of the empennage so early in the event and the severe upward crushing of the aft pressure bulkhead which suggests it was way below the level of the terrain when it struck. I don't think this was a tailstrike, more a mid-body strike and the debris on the runway suggests mangled baggage remains from the aft belly being torn out to me.

My view is that if the aircraft had been a foot or two lower, just that much, the bodycount would have been in the hundreds.

As it is, the profile so graphically shown on page 7 or 8 of this thread shows a clear picture of a high approach, rapid descent to compensate, descent over-corrected at low level and aircraft fallen short . Eye witness reports (for once some seem credible) suggest the aircraft was seen to have handling difficulties which is quite in keeping with this scenario, struggling to prolong a glide while engines spooled up, plus on board reports of the power coming on late in the event.

Time will tell and no doubt there will be other factors involved but the scenario suggested above seems as credible as any.
Agaricus bisporus is offline