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July 9, 2013
Groupthink and Asiana Flight 214 (OZ214)
I'll go out on a limb here and be the first person to point out that Group Think was a contributing factor to the plane crash at SFO.
True, the ILS was non-functioning, but this was NOTAMed last year. The PAPI system was working, so they had glide-slope guidance even if they were confused by the featureless mirrored surface of the calm SF bay.
They flew the plane too slow, too low, and crashed, killing 2 people, and injuring 183.
Now, you can argue that they thought the auto-thrusters were on, or that the ILS should have provided glide-slope guidance, or any number of things. But the reality is that you had 4 skilled pilots in the cockpit on a clear day in idea weather conditions that flew a perfect airplane full of fuel into the ground.
When you have 4 skilled pilots fly a perfectly good plane into the ground and no one says a word, part of the problem is groupthink.
The problem is that the flight crew in the cockpit is both homogeneous and insulated, two of the factors in groupthink. Additionally, the culture of South Korea discourages the subordinates from challenging their superiors. So, the CRM being practiced in the cockpit is obviously sub-optimal, at best.
What's worse still, is that the cultural issue will be ignored/downplayed by the media and the NTSB, as they're afraid of being called "racist", "culturally ethnocentric", or worse.
Posted by Rob Kiser on July 9, 2013 at 2:51 PM
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