Inside the Investigation of Korean Air Flight 801

Episode 81

Greg was the investigator in charge of the National Transportation Safety Board investigation of Korean Air Flight 801. He shares backstories not in the report to add to understanding of the accident and aftermath.

Flight 801 crashed on August 6, 1997, killing 229of the 254 people aboard. The aircraft crashed on Nimitz Hill in Guam while on approach to the airport.The NTSB final report cites poor communication between the flight crew as probable cause for the air crash, along with the captain's poor decision-making.

Learn more about:

• Delays in response to the accident scene
• Allowing families to grieve at the site
• Training shortcomings
• Crew resource management issues
• Delays in decision making and execution

Greg shares details about the role of the minimum safe altitude warning system (MSAW), the partial outage of the Guam ILS system, and cultural factors that impeded cockpit dynamics.

Photo Credit: Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael A. Meyers, U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Music: “Inspirational Sports” license ASLC-22B89B29-052322DDB8