Manual Flying Skills
As a retired Flight Engineer I may be accused of being somewhat biased and "living in he past", however I am astounded that so many comments on this tragic and seemingly avoidable accident place so much emphasis on the Autoflight aspect. What on earth has happened when pilots loose the manual flying skills which are so essential when the autoflight system is part or totally inoperable? Does nobody monitor configuration, heights, speeds, thrust etc? I have flown into SFO on numerous occassions in B747 aircraft and it seems inconceivable to me that this approach in broad daylight was able to continue, with no apparent concern, to the point were impact was unavoidable.
This accident seems to me to be the result of nobody monitoring what was really happening. It is implied by many that the aircaft was allowed to get well below the glideslope and well below the target speeds on the approach. As some others have asked, "Why did nobody notice that the picture was wrong"?