Asiana pilot says he was blinded by light prior to crash

This story just broke overnight. The pilot in the Asiana Arilines disaster at SFO says he was blinded by a bright light when he was at 500 feet. According to the black box (and the NTSB) that was when the problems began, with various autopilot buttons getting pushed all over the place.

The news stories today are all about laser pointers and how easy it is to bring down a place with one of those things.

Since I'm new here, I don't know for sure that someone hasn't already mentioned this, but I looked and couldn't find anything.

Re: Laser pointer brings down Boeing 777, 2 dead, 182 injured, Asiana, SFO (unconfirm

Your thread title is overly salacious, and completely inaccurate! You should change it immediately.

There is no evidence that a laser was used on the plane. The pilot only claimed a bright light blinded him. No other crew members have testified about seeing laser light enter the cockpit.

Your thread title caused the kind of attention that we don't want to be associated with.
And, it's base speculation at best.

Re: Laser pointer brings down Boeing 777, 2 dead, 182 injured, Asiana, SFO (unconfirm

That is right SBA that title sucks man even if it turns out to be true we should proceed with a VERY high caution about this incident from here-on-out. Please change the title until it can most definite be confirmed as the true actual reason.

zyxwv99 said:

The news stories today are all about laser pointers and how easy it is to bring down a place with one of those things.

Click to expand...

Links please!

Re: Laser pointer brings down Boeing 777, 2 dead, 182 injured, Asiana, SFO (unconfirm

scumbagatheist said:

Your thread title is overly salacious, and completely inaccurate! You should change it immediately.

There is no evidence that a laser was used on the plane. The pilot only claimed a bright light blinded him. No other crew members have testified about seeing laser light enter the cockpit.

Your thread title caused the kind of attention that we don't want to be associated with.
And, it's base speculation at best.

Click to expand...

I have changed the title. However, I was merely stating what the news media is reporting this morning. Obviously the media is speculating as to the cause of the alleged bright light. However, I have read the news stories and watched the news videos, and their focus is on laser pointers.

One TV news story this morning about the Asiana crash featured an expert with two high-power handheld lasers, one green and one blue. From a distance of 1/4 mile they shined one of the lasers at the windshield of a small airplane parked on the ground. A camera inside the airplane recorded what it looked like inside.

Finally, I don't think it's appropriate to engage in personal attacks against someone for calling attention to one of this morning top news stories regarding laser pointers. If you disagree with the news media's speculation, please make it clear that your rage is directed at them and not at me. Or as they say, "Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger."

[citation needed]

Here's an article referencing it: S.F. plane crash pilot says he was briefly blinded - SFGate

Honestly... I think the pilot is looking for an easy out. Why didn't a record of this show up in the cockpit voice recorder? Why has he only just now said this, days later?

Doesn't smell right.

Trevor

Re: Laser pointer brings down Boeing 777, 2 dead, 182 injured, Asiana, SFO (unconfirm

zyxwv99 said:

I have changed the title. However, I was merely stating what the news media is reporting this morning. Obviously the media is speculating as to the cause of the alleged bright light. However, I have read the news stories and watched the news videos, and their focus is on laser pointers.

One TV news story this morning about the Asiana crash featured an expert with two high-power handheld lasers, one green and one blue. From a distance of 1/4 mile they shined one of the lasers at the windshield of a small airplane parked on the ground. A camera inside the airplane recorded what it looked like inside.

Finally, I don't think it's appropriate to engage in personal attacks against someone for calling attention to one of this morning top news stories regarding laser pointers. If you disagree with the news media's speculation, please make it clear that your rage is directed at them and not at me. Or as they say, "Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger."

Click to expand...

In what way was anything I said an attack on you, personal or otherwise?
While examining your thread title choices and reading comprehension, perhaps you will spend some time reflecting on how not everything is about you.
(now, that's an attack)

Honestly... I think the pilot is looking for an easy out. Why didn't a record of this show up in the cockpit voice recorder? Why has he only just now said this, days later?

Click to expand...

Ohh...maybe he's gone in too low at too slow an airspeed, dumped the jet into the deck, killed two innocent people, injured 180 more (30 seriously) right about now is probably the most likely time to be looking for a scapegoat. An unknown kid with a scary "laser weapon" would fit the bill quite well.

My genuine condolences to those that have been lost or have been hurt.

best wishes

Dave

This guy blamed the autopilot too. I could see the smoke from my house when it happened, Crazy.

~ LB

Target 'Lazerbeak' Acquired.

Acquisition Acknowledged. Fire Authority: Green

Batteries Online. System Armed...

Nice one SBA!

~ LB

Reading the article it seem one if the ejected Chinese nationals that died was run over by one of the response trucks... Yuck.

jander6442 said:

Reading the article it seem one if the ejected Chinese nationals that died was run over by one of the response trucks... Yuck.

Click to expand...

I read that as well. One of the 16 or 17 year old Chinese students.
Their doing an autopsy to see if the firetruck was what actually killed her.
Even more distressing is how it's being revealed that the crash victims waited 20-30 min for the first responders.
There were numerous cell phone calls from passengers & crew laying on the runway saying "where are the ambulances?"
I bet the pilot didn't even radio for help.

The Chinese are pretty upset with the Koreans. Chinese news reports say the Koreans said luckily the 2 dead were Chinese not Korean. A boycott is brewing I would think.

~ LB

middle of the page, halfway down
Hersman: Plane?s auto-equipment seems to have behaved normally - Kevin Robillard - POLITICO.com

"The pilot told investigators that the light wasn’t a laser, Hersman said in a TV interview earlier Thursday."

When I reported the story this morning, it was one of the top news stories. Just typing "Asiana" and "laser" into Google News, it seems that it made front-page headlines in a number of major newspapers.

The story as initially reported was that the pilot reported seeing a bright light 30 seconds before landing. At a press conference the head of the NTSB was asked by a reporter if it could have been a laser. The answer she initially gave was something to the effect that they had no evidence that it was.

From there, the news media ran with story, doing articles and video segments about lasers and airplanes.

Even though they weren't claiming that the plane was brought down by a laser, they were certainly dramatizing the possibility.

That was why I started this thread: to alert readers to the media frenzy.

The initial title of this thread was my attempt to illustrate the media's overdramatiztion. When people complained, I changed it.

Besides complaints about the title (which was only up for an hour or so) I am seeing some mean-spirited remarks. For example, I'm new here, so I'm only allowed to put in one link. Since I claimed that this story is all over the news, a single link would not have sufficed. Furthermore, common sense tells you that you don't need to provide a reference to something if it's common knowledge. Even though it may not have been common knowledge to people just waking up when I posted it, it was a top news story on Google News.

Some the hostility that should have been directed at the news media was instead directed at me. For example, the use of the word "alleged" as if there could be any doubt that this is what the media has been reporting. Also, arguments directed against the credibility of the idea that a laser was involved would be perfectly valid if the poster would not conflate it with criticism of my mentioning the story in the first place.

USA Today link:
Lasers a growing concern for aircraft pilots
(you have to scroll down to see the article)