Alarm sounded before crash of Korean jet

Recorder indicates pilots unaware

From Correspondent Tom Mintier

AGANA, Guam (CNN) -- The flight data recorder recovered from the wreckage of Korean Air Flight 801 indicates that an alarm sounded just before the Boeing 747 slammed into a hilltop, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

But the lack of conversation by the cockpit crew may be an indication that the pilot was unaware of the immediate danger. That adds to the evidence that pilot error could have caused Wednesday's crash that killed at least 225 of the 254 people on board.

NTSB member George Black, who is leading the investigation on the ground in Guam, said Friday morning that the pilots didn't say much in the moments before the crash, but an alarm was triggered.

"The conversation on the voice recorder was minimal, but on the data recorder a ground proximity alarm did sound before impact," Black said.

Although the cockpit voice recorder was undamaged by the accident, the age of the device and the language of the pilots has slowed the analysis.

"Much of the conversation is in Korean, but we have people en route to Washington to help us understand what is on the voice recorder," Black said.

"It's also an older type recorder that is not the best quality." The undamaged flight data recorder was also recovered, he said.

"The data recorder has given us pretty good data," Black said. "It is being refined, it is digital and there is some noise in it, and we are having to smooth that data out."

The NTSB is investigating the crash because Guam is an unincorporated organized territory of the United States.

 

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Related stories:

• 'I thought I might die' - August 7, 1997
• Focus shifts to cause of Korean Air crash - August 6, 1997
• Guam rescuers: 27 survivors, no more expected - August 6, 1997
• List of passengers aboard Korean Air Flight 801 - August 6, 1997
• Rescuers search smoldering jet debris in Guam - August 5, 1997
• At least 30 survive Korean Air crash in Guam - August 5, 1997
• Korean Air jetliner crashes in Guam - August 5, 1997

Related sites:

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• Boeing - Statement on Korean Air Accident
• KUAM - TV Guam
• Virtual Guam
• Korean Air
• Boeing - 747 Background
• Government of Guam
• National Transportation Safety Board

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