Posted on 07/10/2013 4:38:16 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The pilot at the helm of the Asiana Airlines flight told investigators he saw a flash of light while trying to land the plane and was temporarily blinded, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Debbie Hersman said on Wednesday
“We really don’t know what it could’ve been,” Hersman said when asked if the flash could’ve been a laser of some type.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Hey Lee, lying does not make things better.
Bush’s fault.
That was the blinding flash of OH CRAP, I BLEW IT!
All pilots fear the cry of the OH NO bird.
My guess.. Asian pride. Pilot is saying this to save face.
That’s the clean version. Lol.
Saw that. Wondered what the pilots thought about it.
Flash of light? I suspect a white Hispanic.
It was his career dissapation light. It went into high gear.
What he actually saw was the end of his career as a commercial pilot; “QUICK; I NEED AN EXCUSE, OR SOME BODY ELSE TO BLAME”.
So, did that flash of light come right after screaming, “Jesus take the wheel!”, cuz we know it wasn’t you that saved all those passengers.
We need the Ancient Aliens guy here.
Pilots have been blinded by lasers before and civilians have been arrested and sentenced to prison terms for this offense. It probably depends on the timing. The guy wielding the laser might have fortuitously hit the sweet spot, the critical moments during which any mistake would have caused an accident. A guy with 10,000 flying hours doesn't seem like someone who would crash an idiot-proof plane like a large commercial jet by accident. Yes, it was his first landing at SFO, but every pilot has a first time.
Sun reflecting off something probably.
but not their fault of course...
A flash could have blinded him for a few seconds, delaying his recognition of a developing situation. Perhaps if he had noticed a few seconds earlier, he would have had enough time to correct the problem.
In any case, we won’t know until the investigation report is released.
Oh sure there was a light, oh sure!
A flash of light does not make you low and slow at the fence, bubba.
Stand up like a man a take your medicine.
YOU SCREWED UP!
I am a retired ATC out of SFO. I worked SFO Bay Approach at NCT (Area B)and we dealt with foreign pilots on a regular basis.
If you get a couple of them on frequency at the same time and you are having a problem with them reading back your clearances in a manner that you think is correct and you have to keep going back to them to verify, you can “go down the shitter” pretty quick.
That is one issue.
I can’t verify, but I have heard that the requirement to speak English (the universal language in ATC) is very lax. This would not surprise me from my experience. A few have told me that it is just a matter of them checking a box on a form.
Here is an issue that is not being brought up and might be a factor in this accident. Cockpit/Crew Resource Management CRM is a bit different in the Asian Culture. There is a tendency to not question your superiors. This can have disastrous consequences in the cockpit.
I am not sure about the dynamics that were in play on this flight with training going on etc... but someone should have said something sooner.
I have always felt that it would be very very easy for a reporter looking for a story to get a scanner and monitor the traffic at SFO or any other international airport and document just how bad the language barrier is.
Also read just now that at least one of the pilots that was being interviewed was using a translator. HMmmmmmmm..... That does not surprise me at all.
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