NTSB to Hold Hearings on Asiana Airlines Crash

The National Transportation and Safety Board will hold hearings on Tuesday concerning last July's runway crash in San Francisco.

The National Transportation and Safety Board will hold hearings on Tuesday concerning last July's runway crash in San Francisco. The plane came in too low, striking a seawall, and the crash injured more than 180 passengers and killed three.

The hearings are supposed to address a few issues. Among them, according to the Los Angeles Times, are "the training and skills of the Asiana pilots, government oversight in South Korea and automated flight systems, which the crew was relying on during the landing." Investigators had previously traveled to Korea to examine plane maintenance and flight records.

The rescue procedure is also expected to be heavily scrutinized. One of the three fatalities occurred when a rescue vehicle struck an injured passenger.

As of now, there is no clear evidence of a mechanical failure that caused the crash, although the other possibility, pilot (in)competence, has been flatly denied by Asiana. There were, however, issues with the evacuation slides of the plane—only two of the eight inflated correctly, and another two inflated inside the cabin and had to be cleared with axes.

The pilots (no, not these pilots) will not be testifying at the hearing.