Asiana Airlines pilots involved in a deadly San Francisco plane crash earlier this year have told investigators that the failure of an automated speed-control system played a major role in the accident.
The pilots said that the auto-throttles disconnected without warning before the twin-engine jet slowed dramatically and hit a sea wall near a runway at San Francisco’s international airport, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
This account differs from the safety board’s preliminary findings, which did not uncover any mechanical or electrical problems with the Boeing 777 prior to impact. Air safety officials previously said the pilots may have failed to activate the auto-throttle correctly, but Asiana maintenance logs detail a number of “uncommanded auto-throttle disconnects.”
[WSJ]