A consortium of underwriters insured the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed Saturday in San Francisco for $2.3 billion, with 10 Korean insurers sharing about 4 percent of the potential loss, says Korea's Financial Supervisory Service.
The Asia Insurance Review reports that in addition to the 10 Korean insurers, 30 foreign insurers share in the risk that covers $130 million for the hull and $3 million for crew liability. Coverage for facility damages and human casualties makes up $2.2 billion of the policy.
Flight 214 was carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew members including 61 U.S. citizens, says Asiana Airlines when the jet crashed Saturday as it landed at San Francisco International Airport. Two young women died and 182 were injured. Asiana says 48 people still remain hospitalized.
During a press conference yesterday, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman says preliminary information obtained from the flight data recorders indicate the plane was flying “significantly” below the target landing speed of 137 knots. Seven seconds before the crash, there was a call from one of the crew to increase the jet's speed. At four seconds there was a stick shaker (when the plane's yoke vibrates) indicating the plane was in danger of stalling. At 1.5 seconds before impact there was an order from the crew to go around and abort the landing.
Speaking today, Hersman says the flight data recorders indicate the plane's speed dropped to 106 knots before impact. She also says some of the crew reported problems with the aircraft's emergency escape systems that need further investigation. Specifically, Hersman says some of them reported that the escape chutes deployed into the plane.
Hersman says the information is still preliminary and needs corroboration by additional data before a conclusion of whether human or mechanical error caused the crash.
Photographs of the scene from the NTSB's Website show the charred remains of the plane with its tail torn-off. Other photos taken after the crash, show passengers streaming out of the aircraft as smoked billowed from one side.
A current focus of press reports is the jet's pilot at the controls, Lee Kang-guk, who was making his first landing into San Francisco Airport and had only 43 hours flying time with the 777. However, there has been no official link that his newness to the plane and airport attributed to the crash.
On its Website, the Federal Aviation Administration says Asiana Airlines, in business for 21 years, flies 12 Boeing 777s. The 777 has a very good safety record with few hull losses.
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