Asiana Pilots Realized Problems Before Crash

Report released today

Pilots of an Asiana Airlines Inc plane that crash-landed in San Francisco last summer were aware the plane was traveling too slowly and tried to correct it in the final seconds before impact, according to documents released on Wednesday by U.S. aviation safety investigators.

The crash on July 6 killed three people and injured more than 180, and was the first fatal commercial airplane crash in the United States since February 2009. The co-pilot, who was training the pilot flying the plane, thought the autothrottle on the Boeing 777 jet might not have been operating, the documents showed.

The pilot flying the plane said he wasn't sure whether autothrottle, used to set engine thrust power, was maintaining speed, according to the documents.