Asiana Airlines says the pilot flying the Boeing 777 that crashed in San Francisco was in training, and Saturday’s fatal trip was his first flight into that airport.
Although Lee Kang-kook had 9,793 flying hours during his 19 year Asiana career, he only had 43 hours of experience with the Boeing 777. “It was Lee Kang-kook’s maiden flight to the airport with the jet,” an Asiana spokesperson said. “He was in training. Even a veteran gets training [for a new jet.”
Asiana’s chief executive has refused to speculate whether pilot error caused the crash; the National Transportation Safety Board’s chairwoman has said that it is too early to make that determination.