As the investigation into the deadly Boeing 777 crash gets underway, there’s the inevitable speculation about what could have caused the twin-engine jetliner to slam down on the runway at San Francisco International Airport, claiming two lives and injuring 182 others.
Aviation experts say the probe is likely to delve into possible engine problems, pilot mistakes and mechanical issues.
“We’re looking at either a mechanical failure, a serious mechanical failure, or a serious pilot error,” aviation analyst Marc-Antoine Plourde told CTV News Channel on Sunday.
He described the Boeing 777 as a safe airplane with a good track record.
1. Pilot experience
The overall experience and hand-flying skills of the pilots is likely to come under review.
Investigators took the flight data recorder to Washington, D.C., overnight Saturday to begin examining its contents for clues into the last moments of the flight, officials said.
Investigators also plan to interview the pilots, the crew and passengers.
U.S. and South Korean officials are expected to examine if pilot fatigue or flight-control problems contributed to the accident, and whether air-traffic control instructions may have been a factor.
2. Navigation tool shutdown
National Transportation Safety Board chief Deborah Hersman told U.S. media on Sunday that investigators are looking into what role the shutdown of a key navigational aid may have played in the crash.
She said the glide slope -- a ground-based aid that helps pilots stay on course while landing -- had been shut down since June.
Pilots were reportedly sent a notice warning that the glide slope wasn't available and Hersman said there were many other navigation tools available to help the pilots land.
3. Witness accounts
Moments after the crash landing, photos and videos of the scene appeared on social media sites.
Aviation experts have said the aircraft may have approached the runway too low, and something may have caught the runway lip -- part of a seawall at the foot of the runway.
Some witnesses have also reported hearing the plane's engines rev up just before the crash while others have said they felt the pilot try to lift the jet up moments before the landing.
4. Black boxes
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has recovered the black box recordings, which document critical in-flight data, on Sunday from the plane's cockpit.
Investigators from the NTSB will analyze both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder for clues as to what went wrong.
Plourde said this will be a quicker investigation than, for example, the Air France crash in 2009, when crashed deep into the Atlantic Ocean two hours after takeoff from Brazil.
“The black boxes were so deep in the water it took over a year to get those,” Plourde said. “This will be fairly swift in comparison get to the bottom and find out whatever caused this accident.”
