The Asiana Airways crash in San Francisco was only the second major crash of a Boeing 777, both occurring during landing situations, and both resulting in a majority of the passengers walking away from the crash. The fact that the wings remained attached to the aircraft, and that all passengers exited the aircraft, is a testament to how well the aircraft is built. We are certain that many of the survivors are thankful for the Boeing engineers behind the design of that aircraft, even as attorneys plan lawsuits.
The prior incident with the 777 resulted from an engine failure on a British Airways flight on approach to London Heathrow airport in which all passengers were successfully evacuated with no fatalities. Saturday’s crash did result in two fatalities, but all of the passengers were successfully evacuated from the aircraft within 90 seconds. Kudos to the well trained Asiana cabin crew for quickly evacuating the aircraft prior to the fire.
With only two crashes in 18 years of the 1,113 Boeing 777s delivered to date, the aircraft has a phenomenal safety record, and has proven “crash worthy”. It is notable that the fuselage of the 777, in both crashes, remained intact. The 777 performed as a fuselage should, remaining intact to protect passengers. The 777 is definitely on our “do fly” list and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
