Human Error Factor In Korean Jet Crash, Investigators Indicate Flight Crew Appears To Have Been In Control

Human error may have played a part in the crash of Korean Air Flight 801, the Boeing 747 that hit a jungle hillside on approach to the Guam airport and exploded into a fiery torch of death, the chief crash investigator said today.

The comments came as a team of 18 investigators and staff from the National Transportation Safety Board began their first in-depth examination of the wreckage. The examination was expected to last for at least a week before the investigators begin removing the wreckage and taking parts to laboratories for further analysis.

At least 226 of the 254 people on Flight 801, enroute from Seoul, South Korea, to Agana, died. The plane came to rest in a shallow valley on a lush, green ridge, known as Nimitz Hill, three miles from the airport on Wednesday, during early morning darkness and in fog and a light rain. It carried vacationing families with children and several newlyweds. Guam is a favorite destination for South Korean honeymooners.

George Black, the NTSB member who is heading the investigation, said human error might have played a role in the crash because the flight crew appeared to have been in control of he plane when it flew into the hillside.

“Controlled flight into terrain is usually an error on someone’s part,” Black told NBC-TV’s “Today” program. “And it does have all the earmarks of controlled flight into terrain.”

Barry Schiff, a senior captain for a major U.S. international airline who has helped the NTSB with a number of major air crash investigations, said the tragedy “certainly smacks of pilot error - some sort of fundamental error.

“Assuming everything as operating properly in the plane, they (the flight crew) might have misread the approach chart,” Schiff said in response to reporters’ questions about the crash. “They could have misread the altimeter. They might even have set their altimeter improperly.”

Black confirmed that a radio signal from the airport, called a glide slope, was not operating at the time of the crash. But he said a notice, called a NOTAM, was issued to pilots when the signal was taken out of service for maintenance two weeks ago.

At a press center near the crash site, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Marty Jamczak, in charge of rescuing survivors and recovering human remains, told reporters that eight of the survivors had left Andersen Air Force Base on Guam on a flight to South Korea.

They were admitted to Korean hospitals, Jamczak said, for further treatment.

The NTSB investigators said they would interview all the survivors, including those who were taken to South Korea.

The search for human remains resumed Thursday after being called off Wednesday afternoon. The hiatus brought complaints from Korean families.

Ko Jong Il, a Seoul restaurateur whose older brother died in the crash, said he was one of about 300 relatives of the crash victims who have flown from Seoul to Guam. “All we want is for the corpses to be found,” Ko said. “It’s a Korean tradition that one bury the dead and respect the dead. …

“We do believe that the safety investigation is delaying the rescue operation. Koreans respect the bodies of the dead very much. They must have them.”

Both Jamczak and Black denied that the recovery of remains was being delayed unnecessarily.

“The recovery of remains is proceeding,” Black declared. “We did not delay the recovery in any way.

Jamczak was asked why it was taking so long to count and identify the victims.

“The condition of the bodies would preclude an exact count,” he replied. “We’re doing all we can to preserve the remains. We’re doing all that we can to maintain the sanctity of the bodies.”

Guam Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez, who faces a battle for re-election, posed for two television crews with Rika Matsuda, 11, a Japanese girl he rescued from the wreckage.

He sat on a sofa with Rika and her father, who came to Guam to take her home. Her mother died when the wreckage burned. The governor embraced Rika with his left arm and comforted her. She had bruises and abrasions on her face.

Only the two television crews were permitted to ask questions, and none were to be directed at her.

Rika did not say a word. She held onto a stuffed white rabbit.