Failed equipment at the Guam airport
may have played a role in the Aug. 6
crash that killed 228 people

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

Investigators are looking at failed equipment, a raging thunderstorm and a delayed response from emergency vehicles as factors that might have played a role in last summer's deadly crash of a Korean Air jet on Guam.

Air traffic controllers, airline officials and emergency services workers from Guam will testify during three days of hearings, which began today at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

The hearings will help the National Transportation Safety Board determine the cause of the crash and make recommendations for avoiding future accidents.

The Aug. 6, 1997, crash killed 228 people, making it the third worst airline disaster on U.S. soil.

The Guam airport's glide slope, a device used to guide the direction and angle of airplanes, was not working at the time of the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration had distributed a notice saying the instrument was out of service, but transcripts from the cockpit of Korean Air Flight 801 show that crew members questioned whether the device was working almost until the moment of impact.

Officials are looking at whether electronic interference might have led the crew to believe the glide slope was working.

Because the device was not working, the crew should have used a different landing procedure, known as a "step-down approach." Investigators are focusing on why the crew failed to follow this procedure.

Investigators are also questioning why the Minimum Safe Altitude Warning System, a piece of equipment on the ground, did not alert radar controllers that the aircraft was flying too low. Previously, investigators discovered a glitch in the system, and determined the device had been covering the wrong area. While a properly functioning altitude warning system could have prevented the accident, they said it did not cause the crash.

The plane had been cleared for landing during a driving rainstorm at 1:40 a.m.

The captain had previously described the dark, mountainous approach to the airport as "the black hole," a term also used by other pilots.

Investigators said today they are also looking at a delayed response from emergency services on Guam.

They said the accident occured in a fenced area, which slowed rescued vehicles, and road conditions were bad.

The "accident captain," as Capt. Yong-Chul Park is referred to in the investigation report, referred to the area as the black hole.

The 43-year-old former military jet pilot, who had been honored for safety during his career, had been diagnosed with bronchitis prior to his Guam trip, the report said.

The captain didn't advise the company of his bronchitis and prescription drug treatment, according to the report.

The Korean Ministry of Transportation Aviation Regulations prohibits pilots from flying under the influence of anesthetics or any other drugs that will jeopardize the safe operation of an aircraft, the investigation report noted.

The medical examiner found a packet of prescription pills among the personal effects of the captain at the crash site, the report said.

Investigators contacted Park's physician, who said he diagnosed Park with bronchitis July 27, 10 days before the Guam accident.

For more information about the accident, check out Web site: http://www.ntsb.gov