Asiana Airlines flight came in too low, too slow, investigators say

GlobalPost
The World

One of the pilots on the Asiana Airlines flight that crashed in San Francisco told investigators he knew the plane was coming in too slow and too low, the United States National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

The pilot said he tried to correct the Boeing 777's path at the last minute but it was too late, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The news was among several new details that emerged Tuesday as federal investigators continued to sift through the charred wreckage of Flight 214 in search of answers behind Saturday's crash that killed two Chinese schoolgirls and injured scores more.

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Two flight attendants on the Asiana Airlines flight that crashed in San Francisco were sucked from the plane and thrown onto the runway, but survived, crash investigators said.

The landing gear and the plane's tail hit the seawall dividing the runway from the San Francisco Bay. The aircraft spun 360 degrees before coming to a stop, the NTSB said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities are looking into whether the plane's autothrottle had malfunctioned.

More from GlobalPost: Asiana Airlines crash parts found in water

The pilot in charge on the flight was making his first trip as an instructor, and had never flown with the pilot he was instructing that day, according to CBS News.

Meanwhile, the church camp that the two teenage girls who died in the crash were supposed to attend with a group of 35 Chinese students and chaperones has been canceled in wake of the crash.

The victims have been identified as 16-year-olds Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyuan. They had been the back of the plane, where many of the most seriously injured passengers were seated, NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman said.

"These are amazing, gifted, talented, great prospects with a lot of talent that are coming over here," West Valley Christian School administrator Derek Swales told ABC News. "It's just devastating to think that superstar kid in the classroom with all that potential was just taken."

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