There is no actual berm there, just a rock face that takes it to threshold level.

 

In order to strike the tail and not involve the landing gear at the appropriate distance forward, and yet not slap the runway like the Turkish 738 is a bit hard to envision. That would likely mean the wings had enough lift to soften the blow.

 

Can't help but play it out in our minds to encompass the likely possibilities. I am sure there will be video showing the landing from security cameras at the airport and in Millbrae and Burlingame.

This is local for me ... passenger twitted the aircraft suddenly pulled up to 45 degree angle and he heard a bang a few moments later.  KSFO is closed to all aircraft as of 2:32 PM (PT).  From all available data so far, it looks like pilot error landing short of the runway.

 

There is a local group of aircraft enthusiasts at San Carlos that monitor ATC all day and they reported no indication of a problem until after the event.

 

Weather wise, it's a very nice day with high visibility and moderate to light winds.

 

No "official" reports of any deaths so that's good news.

 

Rob

 

 

The angle off attack was very high, and the pilot tried to correct this by raising the noise,

 

A high angle of attack is not cured by "raising the nose" or pulling back on the yoke. That just compounds the problem.

I was just thinking about flying to KSFO in FSX yesterday in an Alaska NGX, can't believe this accident happened.  I wonder what the passengers in the United 747 taxing to 28L were thinking?   How lucky are they that the T7 didn't hit them?

 

To crash like that on a crystal clear day at KSFO, with calm winds, there is no way the pilot misjudged the visual approach if the engines and flight controls were in good working order.   I hate to speculate, but I'm guessing loss of thrust of one of the engines below 200ft on finals, or catastrophic loss of flight control authority.

Anyone notice the slats look deployed but flaps are retracted?

Looks like the flaps on the right wing are extended. Maybe the ones on the left wing got ripped off.

I was just thinking about flying to KSFO in FSX yesterday in an Alaska NGX, can't believe this accident happened.  I wonder what the passengers in the United 747 taxing to 28L were thinking?   How lucky are they that the T7 didn't hit them?

 

To crash like that on a crystal clear day at KSFO, with calm winds, there is no way the pilot misjudged the visual approach if the engines and flight controls were in good working order.   I hate to speculate, but I'm guessing loss of thrust of one of the engines below 200ft on finals, or catastrophic loss of flight control authority.

 

It seems pretty likely that it was a low approach and over correction. As to WHY, could literally be anything.

Controlled flight into terrain.

A high angle of attack is not cured by "raising the nose" or pulling back on the yoke. That just compounds the problem.

Yep I know Tom, I was just reporting what I heard on CNN on a report by someone on board, whose daughter called in.

Just saw an image taken from a fleeing passenger and it looks like the fire hadn't broken out yet. Being at the end of the flight the lack of fuel certainly must have been a good thing.  The only disturbing part of that image was more than one person had there carry on luggage!

 

Arghh..leave it in the overhead and JUST GET OUT!

ust visualize the minimum pitch angle needed for the tail to impact the perimeter rocks to take the tail section off clean at the aft pressure bulkhead if indeed it happened this way.

A loss of thrust on one engine with the 777 or any other type shouldn't in theory cause an accident like this, plenty of thrust available on the remaining engine & the 777 has TAC installed. Dual flameout would be more likely.

Looks like the flaps on the right wing are extended. Maybe the ones on the left wing got ripped off.

Correct, I found some more photos and indeed the have been ripped of the left wing

Yep I know Tom, I was just reporting what I heard on CNN on a report by someone on board, whose daughter called in.

 

I heard that too. I was just making an editorial not aimed at you. High AOA, Pull Back Yoke, Low Speed (or high altitude) = BAD JUJU.

What an unfortunate situation for everyone on board.

I live right across the bay from KSFO, with my office facing the water. Unfortunately I was away when it happened, but when I got in 30 minutes after it happened, you could clearly see a long, elongated plume of black smoke above the airport.

There's been a stream of heavy arrivals coming into nearby KOAK, including a KLM 744. If you look at flightradar24 you'll notice it's a big mess in California.

It must be quite the challenge for ATC to do so much rapid rerouting in response; kudos to them.

I'm incredibly scared right now. That moment when you turn on your TV on CNN, don't expect anything and then see what just happened at the airport of your city just a couple of miles away from my house.