SFO Plane Crash: Too Much Speculation?

By Katherine Hafner

New information constantly surfaced this week following the July 6 Asiana Airlines Flight 214's crash landing at San Francisco International Airport that killed three people and injured many more – causing many to jump to early or inaccurate conclusions about the tragic accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board immediately began a full-scale investigation of the violent wreck, heavily followed by the media, releasing new details almost daily.

The pilots on board the Boeing 777 told federal investigators that an automatic throttle — a system likened to a car's cruise control — had failed to keep the jetliner at the proper speed for landing, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Many people then started to speculate that the pilots had not been sufficiently authorized to fly the plane, after reports surfaced that the main pilot was in training and had never landed at SFO in that particular aircraft model.

At a press conference on Thursday with NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman, members of the media asked about a reported “beam of light” by which the pilot was said to have been blinded. 

And on Friday, more information surfaced that the pilots had not indicated they were off of the normal flight schedule until too late, seconds before landing, leading people to immediately blame them.

But how much attention should we give to these different sources?

It is hard to tell which information is true, and which is pure speculation.

Here’s what we know: something went wrong on Flight 214 and it was related to the plane’s speed being too slow and height being too low when landing on runway 28L.

Federal investigators are still working to determine the cause of the crash and have said it will take at least a year until full reports are released.

"This is just the tip of iceberg," Hersman said. "There's a lot more we have to review."

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault has also said he will not release the autopsy reports of the two 16-year-old girls killed during the crash for at least a couple weeks, until they are thorough.