Asiana pilot says he was blinded by light prior to crash

Bart Jansen | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption NTSB: Plane crew waited 90 seconds to evacuate The crew of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was first told not to evacuate, following Saturday's crash. They were ordered to clear the plane 90 seconds later, when fire was spotted. (July 11)

Investigators say the blinding was temporary

Plane did not being evacuations immediately

Three flight attendants were thrown from the plane%2C but survived

Federal crash investigators revealed Wednesday that the pilot flying Asiana Airlines Flight 214 told them that he was temporarily blinded by a bright light when 500 feet above the ground.

Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said it wasn't clear what could have caused the problem. Asked specifically whether it could have been a laser pointed from the ground, Hersman said she couldn't say what caused it.

"We need to understand exactly what that is," Hersman said. "It was a temporary issue."

Her comments came during a daily press briefing on the Saturday crash of Asiana Flight 214 that left two dead and 168 others injured.

Federal crash investigators previously said that pilots recognized they were too low and not lined up precisely with the runway while still 500 feet from the ground. At 500 feet, pilots recognized that they were low as the Boeing 777 was going 134 knots and was 34 seconds from impact. They continued to make adjustments until hitting the seawall at the end of the runway at San Francisco International Airport.

Evacuation of the plane didn't begin immediately. Airlines must certify that they can evacuate fully loaded planes within 90 seconds. But in this case, a pilot told flight attendants not to begin the evacuation immediately when the plane came to rest.

But after about 90 seconds, a flight attendant near the second door reported seeing fire outside a window in the middle of the plane. He relayed that information to the cockpit and the evacuation began.

Asiana passengers called 911, begged for help Passengers on the plane that crashed in San Francisco called 911, begged for help, and said ambulances weren't coming fast enough. San Francisco officials say ambulances could not come too close out of concern that the plane would explode. (July 11)

Hersman said evacuations don't always begin immediately. But she said once the crew was aware of the fire, evacuations began.

"We need to understand what they were thinking," Hersman said.

Rescue trucks arrived within two minutes and began fighting the fire outside the plane within three minutes. Investigators found the right engine leaked oil where part of the fire was located.

Two flight attendants were pinned by evacuation slides that inflated inside the cabin, at the first and second doors from the front on the right side of the plane, Hersman said. One broke her lower leg, Hersman said.

"Those flight attendants needed assistance to get out from underneath those slides," Hersman said. "They couldn't do it alone."

A total of three flight attendants were ejected from the plane after the tail was torn off, Hersman said. She had said Tuesday that at least two flight attendants were ejected. All three remained hospitalized and haven't been interviewed by investigators.

The flight also marked the first time that pilot Lee Gang Guk had flown with Lee Jeong Min, a trainer making his first trip as an instructor pilot.

"The question is why did it land short," said Kees Rietsema, a dean at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "Obviously the captain is responsible, and in this case it's the instructor in the right seat who is responsible."

Investigators are now examining the working relationship of the two, and whether junior officers were comfortable challenging their managers, and whether senior pilots will welcome that feedback, Hersman said.

"That's what the airline needs to do, be responsible so that in the cockpit you're matching the best people, especially when you're introducing someone to a new aircraft," former NTSB chairman James Hall said.

Contributing: The Associated Press