飛行員操作失誤成舊金山空難調查重點

The Asiana AirLines jet that crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport, killing two Chinese teenagers and injuring 182 others, was descending at a dangerously slow speed and pilots apparently ran out of time to correct their approach, investigators said Sunday.

韓亞航空(Asiana Airlines)客機在美國舊金山國際機場(San Francisco International Airport)降落過程中失事，造成兩名中國青少年死亡，182人受傷。調查人員週日說，該飛機以非常危險的低速降落，而且表面看來飛行員已沒有時間進行糾正。

While stopping short of pinpointing pilot error as the likely cause of the fiery crash Saturday, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman's comments indicated investigators were focused primarily on why the cockpit crew allowed speed to decay to such an extent─and failed to take decisive action until the Boeing 777 was less than two seconds from impact.

美國全國運輸安全委員會(National Transportation Safety Board)主席赫斯曼(Deborah Hersman)的評論表明，雖然還沒有確定飛行員操作失誤是造成周六嚴重墜機事故的可能原因，但調查人員基本上把重點放在了兩方面，一是駕駛艙機組人員爲何會允許這架波音777飛機的速度慢到這樣一個程度，二是他們直到該飛機還有不到兩秒鐘着陸之前一直未採取果斷措施。

The overnight flight from Seoul, with 307 people on board, including 16 crew members, hit a rocky sea wall, which sheared off its tail and landing gear, then slammed onto the runway, skidded, spun off the tarmac and erupted into flames.

這架載有307人（包括16名機組成員）的航班從首爾起飛，經過一整夜的航程後，撞到了岩石築成的防波堤上，機尾和起落架折斷，然後撞上跑道，後又衝出跑道起火。

Some passengers and witnesses said it looked as if the aircraft was too close to San Francisco Bay as it approached the runway.

一些乘客和目擊者說，好像是該飛機在着陸時離舊金山灣太近。

'There was no feeling of anything wrong. No announcement. Then suddenly the plane went bam, bam, bam, bam,' said Fawen Yan, a 48-year-old resident of the San Francisco Bay area who was sitting in economy class.

坐在失事飛機經濟艙裏的48歲舊金山灣地區居民Fawen Yan說，沒有感覺到任何異常，也沒有聽到任何通知，飛機突然就發出“砰、砰、砰”的聲音。

Remarkably, 123 passengers walked away without major injuries after exiting from emergency slides or leaping from gaping holes in the burned body of the plane.

值得一提的是，有123名乘客沒有嚴重受傷，他們有的通過應急滑梯逃生，有的從飛機機體燒焦開裂的洞口跳出來。

China's Ministry of Education said 70 of those aboard were Chinese students or their teachers bound for U.S. precollege exchange programs. Among them, according to Asiana and Chinese officials, were Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyuan, who were killed in the crash.

中國教育部說，機上有70名中國師生，原計劃去美國參加入大學前的交流項目。韓亞航空和中國官員表示，其中王琳佳和葉夢圓在事故中遇難。

In the first on-scene briefing by the NTSB, Ms. Hersman said a preliminary readout of the plane's flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders indicated that everything was normal─with no discussion of any onboard problems or concerns about the visual approach in good weather─until just seven seconds before impact.

赫斯曼在聽取了美國國家運輸安全委員會的現場彙報後說，對飛機飛行數據和駕駛艙錄音器的初步分析表明，本來一切正常，在飛機還有七秒鐘着陸之前，飛行員沒有提到飛機有任何問題，也沒有對好天氣下的目視進場有任何擔心。

At that point, she told reporters, the cockpit crew realized the plane was flying too slowly. 'The speed was significantly below' the designated approach speed of roughly 160 miles per hour.

赫斯曼對記者說，駕駛艙機組成員到那時才發現飛機的飛行速度過慢。她說，飛機當時的降落速度遠低於每小時約260公里的指定進場速度。

Three seconds later, a stall-warning activated in the cockpit, indicating the jet was losing aerodynamic lift, Ms. Hersman said. The crew didn't act to sharply increase engine thrust and try to climb away from the runway─conducting what is called a 'go-around'─until 1.5 seconds before impact, she said.

赫斯曼說，三秒鐘後，駕駛艙內的一個失速警告系統啓動，顯示飛機正在失去氣動升力。她說，直到撞擊發生前1.5秒鐘，機組人員才採取行動大幅提升引擎推力，試圖拉昇高度，即所謂的“重飛”。

The safety board believes 'the engines appear to respond normally' to those commands, Ms. Hersman said, but by then it was too late to recover and portions of the lumbering jet slammed into the sea wall in front of the strip.

赫斯曼說，美國國家運輸安全委員會認爲，引擎對這些指令似乎反應正常，但那時候要重飛已經太遲了，飛機的一些部分撞上了跑道前的防波堤。

Ms. Hersman stressed that there was 'no prior distress call' from the cockpit crew, which should have been able to rely on both ground-based and onboard landing aids to 'establish an approach path' to safely reach the beginning of the runway.

赫斯曼強調說，駕駛艙內的機組人員事發前沒有發出遇險信號。機組成員原本應該能夠依靠地面上和飛機上的着陸輔助系統建立一條降落通道，安全到達跑道的起點處。

Since the jet was on a visual approach in excellent weather, 'you don't need instruments to get into the airport' safely,' Ms. Hersman said.

赫斯曼說，由於飛機是在非常好的天氣條件下進行目視降落，所以無需儀表也應該能夠安全進入機場。

In another significant disclosure, she said investigators 'haven't identified any specific similarities' between Saturday's crash and the 2008 belly landing of another Boeing 777, operated by British Airways, -1.16% on final approach to London's Heathrow International Airport. Investigators determined the British jet's engines were starved of fuel after chunks of ice blocked its fuel system. Nobody was injured, but the incident prompted changes to the 777's fuel systems.

她說，調查人員尚未確定上週六的飛機失事與2008年英國航空公司(British Airways)運營的一架波音777飛機腹部着陸事件之間有任何具體的相似之處。英航的飛機是在倫敦希思羅國際機場(Heathrow International Airport)降落時發生事故的。這可以說又是一項重大的信息披露。調查人員確認英航的飛機被冰塊阻斷了燃油系統，引擎嚴重缺油。在那起事故中，無人受傷，但事故促使工程人員對波音777飛機的燃油系統進行了改進。

Taken together, the preliminary data and Ms. Hersman's early description strongly suggest investigators are leaning away from mechanical or other system failures as the likely culprit.

初步數據以及赫斯曼的初步描述加在一起強烈顯示出，調查人員正在排除飛機失事可能是由機械故障或其他系統性故障造成的。

A young co-pilot with significantly less experience than the captain of the aircraft was at the controls of the Boeing 777 when it crashed, according to people familiar with the situation.

據知情人士說，韓亞航空的這架波音777飛機失事時，控制飛機的是一名年輕的副駕駛，這位副駕駛的經驗遠遠不及機長。

The co-pilot, believed to be 'around 30 years old,' according to people familiar with the situation, was following a routine visual approach. None of the pilots radioed flight controllers about any onboard problems or declared an emergency, according to preliminary reports.

據知情人士說，這位副駕駛據信年齡在30歲左右，當時正在依照常規進行目視降落。據初步報告顯示，幾名飛行員都沒有通過無線電向機場控制塔臺報告任何機上問題或聲明出現緊急狀況。

There were four pilots in the cockpit during the approach: the captain, co-pilot, a 'relief pilot' and a fourth pilot, who may not have been on duty at the time. None of the pilots sustained any significant injuries, said people familiar with the situation.

降落過程中駕駛艙內有四名飛行員：機長、副駕駛、接班飛行員和第四名飛行員。第四名飛行員當時可能不當值。知情人士說，四位飛行員都沒有嚴重受傷。

After spending the night at the airport, the pilots checked into a San Francisco hotel Sunday. NTSB and Korean investigators tentatively scheduled interviews with the crew for Monday.

在機場度過了一夜後，飛行員們週日入住了舊金山一家酒店。美國國家運輸安全委員會和韓國的調查人員初步定於週一對機組人員進行訊問。

The last major U.S. air accident occurred in 2009, when a Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 flown by regional carrier Colgan Air crashed on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing 50 people.

美國上一次發生嚴重空難是在2009年，當時地區航空公司Colgan Air運營的一架龐巴迪(Bombardier) Dash-8 Q400在布法羅尼亞加拉國際機場(Buffalo Niagara International Airport)降落時墜毀，造成50人死亡。

At a news conference in Seoul midafternoon Sunday, Asiana President Yoon Young-doo and a group of executives bowed in apology. Mr. Yoon called the accident 'regretful.'

週日下午在首爾舉行的新聞發佈會上，韓亞航空總裁尹永鬥(Yoon Young-doo)和高管們鞠躬道歉。尹永鬥稱這起事故“令人遺憾”。

The airline doesn't believe the accident was caused by an engine or mechanical problem, Mr. Yoon said, but added that all facts related to the investigation would be announced by the NTSB. Mr. Yoon also said the pilots on the flight were veterans with around 10,000 hours of flying time each.

尹永鬥說，韓亞航空並不認爲這次事故是由發動機或者機械問題造成的，但他還說，所有相關調查事實將由美國國家運輸安全委員會來宣佈。尹永鬥說，機上的飛行員經驗豐富，每個人的累計飛行時間都在10,000小時左右。

One issue likely to come under review by investigators is the overall experience and hand-flying skills of the pilots, who couldn't rely on all elements of an airport instrument-landing system as a backstop.

調查人員可能對飛行員的總體經驗和手控飛行技術進行評估，他們不能在所有情況下都依賴儀表着陸系統。

Since last month, pilots landing at the busy airport have been warned that one type of approach aid has been temporarily turned off while work is under way to improve the strip. Alternate ground-based aids were functioning as the Asiana jet descended with both engines on idle.

自上月以來，在忙碌的舊金山國際機場着陸的飛行員都一直被告知一種進場着陸導航設備已被暫時關閉，改進這種設備的工作正在進行中。當這架韓亞航空飛機關閉發動機降落時備用地面着陸導航設備正在運行。

In the cockpit, according to investigators and industry safety experts, there also should have been alerts if a landing plane is descending too quickly or its trajectory threatens to take it short of the runway threshold.

據調查人員和行業安全專家稱，如果一架正在着陸的飛機降落速度過快或者其降落軌道有偏離跑道入口的風險，駕駛艙內也應當會發出警報。

If onboard flight-control and speed management systems were working normally as the safety board suggests, then 'guidance was available to the crew' about an approach that was becoming dangerously slow and low, said safety consultant John Cox, a former airline pilot and accident investigator.

安全顧問考克斯(John Cox)說，如果機上飛行控制和速度管理系統如安全委員會所說運行正常，那麼在飛機進場速度和高度過低時機組是能夠獲得引導的。考克斯曾做過飛行員和事故調查員。

While visual approaches typically don't require any assistance from instrument-landing systems, safety experts said some airlines prefer to have pilots rely on them as an additional safeguard under nearly all circumstances.

儘管目視進場通常不需要任何儀表着陸系統的輔助，但安全專家說，一些航空公司傾向於讓飛行員在幾乎所有情況下都將這些系統作爲安全輔助。

Investigators also 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.

預計調查人員還將調查事故是否是飛行員疲勞或者飛行控制問題造成的，以及空中交通控制指令是否是造成事故的一個因素。

The aircraft should have been flying roughly 100 or 150 feet above the airport's surface when its tires or tail apparently smacked into a stretch of the sea wall and the jet began breaking apart, experts said. Large pieces of the tail section and scrape marks were visible near the sea wall, and both left and right portions of the landing gear were found hundreds of yards away from the main wreckage.

專家說，當這架飛機的輪胎或者尾翼撞入防波堤並且機身開始後解體時，它本應在距離機場地面大概100英尺或者150英尺的高度上飛行。防波堤附近可以看到機尾的大塊殘骸和刮痕，左右兩側起落架在距離飛機主體數百米的地方被找到。

Despite the Asiana jet losing both left and right landing gear, its rear bulkhead, portions of the wings and at least one engine, early reports indicated that the crew and airport emergency officials quickly evacuated most passengers, before an intense fire melted its aluminum skin and left a giant gash replacing what had been the top half of the middle of the fuselage.

儘管這架韓亞航空飛機左右兩側起落架、後艙壁、機翼的一部分以及至少一個發動機脫落，但據較早的報道稱，在飛機燃起大火之前，機組和機場的緊急救援人員迅速疏散了大部分乘客。大火導致飛機的鋁製外殼融化，機身中間頂部出現一個巨大的裂縫。

The Boeing 777 has had a nearly unblemished record, and previously was among a small group of long-range jets from Boeing and Airbus to have never sustained a fatality in passenger service.

波音777飛機幾乎從未發生過事故，此前是爲數不多的從未發生過乘客死亡事故的波音和空客遠程飛機中的一個機型。

The worst U.S. accident before the 2009 Colgan crash came in 2001, when an American Airlines Airbus A300 crashed on Long Island, N.Y., shortly after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing 265 people.

2009年Colgan航空公司空難發生前，美國最嚴重的一次空難發生在2001年，當時美國航空公司(American Airlines)的一架空客A300客機在從肯尼迪國際機場(John F. Kennedy International Airport)起飛後不久在紐約長島墜毀，造成265人死亡。