Based on the account of the senior training pilot relayed on Tuesday, he only noticed the slow speed of the plane 200 feet in the air, too late to do very much to avoid a disaster. But there's far from anything approaching enough evidence to support a leap to the "deference" theory as the deciding factor in this crash, at least at this point. The other fatal crash happened two years ago, and was due to mechanical problems.īased on the public information so far, it certainly looks like investigators are looking into the possibility of pilot error, among other things, in their search for answers. One, in 1993, was blamed on pilot error after an inquiry concluded that the plane began a descent in poor visibility while still flying over a mountain. The company has a record of two other fatal crashes since its founding in 1988. Aviation experts will tell you that Korean Air is now as safe as any airline in the world.Ĭompared to Korean Air, Asiana is a much smaller carrier. In 2006, Korean Air was given the Phoenix Award by Air Transport World in recognition of its transformation. Its safety record since 1999 is spotless. Today, the airline is a member in good standing of the prestigious SkyTeam alliance. Here's an excerpt from Outliers:īut then a small miracle happened. In his chapter on Korean Air, Gladwell explains how the airline identified and altered the problem, a fact that's nearly as important to his essay as the cultural role itself. The unequal standing between the man flying the plane - a trainee - and his more experienced mentor in the seat next to him. The quiet of the cockpit on flight recorders, indicating little communication. Among the evidence cited? The flight attendent who said that she asked the pilot about starting an evacuation after the crash, but was told to wait. The argument has been popular among many outlets since the slow trickle of details from the NTSB on their investigation began. On Wednesday, CNN re-aired part of a 2009 interview with Gladwell about his essay, as part of their "just raising questions" approach to using the essay to explain the Asiana crash. "I can understand why my Outliers chapter has been of interest, given how central cockpit communication issues are in plane crashes," Gladwell told The Atlantic Wire in an email, adding, "My sense is that we should wait for the full report on the crash before drawing any conclusions about its cause." As for the applicability of his work to the recent Asiana crash, Gladwell noted that his essay was specific to the problems (and solutions) of one airline - Korean Air, "which I think did an extraordinary job of addressing the cultural issues involved in pilot communication. This was a crash involving a completely different airline," he said. We asked Malcolm Gladwell for his thoughts on the use of his essay in the particular context of the Asiana crash. But in cultures that have high power distance, it's very difficult. That works beautifully in low-power-distance cultures. ![]() You are obliged to be deferential toward your elders and superiors in a way that would be unimaginable in the U.S.īut Boeing and Airbus design modern, complex airplanes to be flown by two equals. ![]() What they were struggling with was a cultural legacy, that Korean culture is hierarchical. When we think of airline crashes, we think, Oh, they must have had old planes. G: Korean Air had more plane crashes than almost any other airline in the world for a period at the end of the 1990s. ![]() F: You share a fascinating story about culture and airline safety.
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