Please click here to see "Gov Gutierrez receives National Guard Highest civilian honor".
Press release
by Guam's First Lady.
A hearing on the Aug 6 Korean Air Flight 801 crash on Guam had been held March 24 through 26 1998 at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. Ron Scheleede, deputy director of the federal board's Office of Aviation Safety said that reports submitted by different investigative groups were analyzed after that meeting. The board has groups investigating operations, air traffic control, weather, structures, airplane systems, engines, survival factors, and aircraft performance.
The final answers of what went wrong have continued to be unresolved due to the complexity of the crash. "In that accident, you're looking at a number of different contributing circumstances and factors (as malfunctioning equipment, crew performance and deceptive weather conditions), which can make for a very complicated investigation," said NTSB spokes man Paul Schlam.
A Federal Aviation Administration official cleared Guam's name in connection with the Aug. 6 crash of Korean Air Flight 801. Tom Rea, FAA regional representative, and two other FAA officers recently concluded a series of meeting in Seoul with top officials from the Korean Civil Aviation Board and Ministry of Transportation and executives from Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.
"Because of safety concerns raised by Korean Air, the FAA set about to determine and resolve some issues while the National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation into the crash," Rea said on Oct 17, 1997. "Guam's airport has been and continues to be extremely safe."
(TOKYO) Worried that radar alone is not foolproof, All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines Co. have decided to deploy a new navigation device in cockpits that displays obstacles ahead, such as tall mountains. The obstacles are lit up on a map and give pilots early warning of potential risks, sources said on Oct. 4. The current radar system does not display land forms. In the recent air disasters in Indonesia and Guam, it is suspected that the pilots were not aware of how close they were to the ground because of poor visibility. The warning device stores maps of the world in its database. It will display a map and the location of the aircraft by using information from the aircraft's flight management system and the global positioning system from satellites.
Family members of Korean Air crash victims gathered for the 49th day of mourning ceremony at Nimitz Hill, across the valley from the crash site. Most of them came to Guam prior to sept 24, 1997 for Chusok, the Korean holiday of harvest. Two Buddist monks flew to Guam from Seoul on Monday to lead the ceremony. An altar and plates of food sat in front of family members as incense were burned and rice wine were given to the dead as they waited in line to bow at the altar.
A Guam couple, Sang Young Shim and Soon Duck Shim filed a personal injury suit Tuesday in a California district court. Sang Young Shim was a passenger on the flight that killed 228 passengers when it slammed into Nimitz Hill Aug 6. Sang Young Shim sustained injuries when the plane crashed into the ground. He was released from Naval hospital earlier this month in Sept. Court documents state that Sang Young Shim, Soon Duck Shim "lost support, services, companionship, society, affection, sexual relations and solace from Sang Young Shim." Court documents state Korean Air operated Flight 801 in a hazardous manner that intentionally violated safety procedures.
On Sept 1, 1997 Del. Robert Underwood of Guam will introduce legislation in the House of Representatives to require foreign airlines that service U.S. destinations to have a family assistance plan in event of crashes for families of crash victims. After the Flight 801 crash, "One of the biggest problems was that there was no coordinated service (for the family members)," Underwood said. "It was very frustrating for them." A federal law requires U.S. airlines to establish crisis management plans to help families of crash victims, but that law does not apply to foreign carriers.
"Alot will depend on the cause," said Joseph Zulka, executive vice president for Pacific Indemnity Insurance Co. "If the reason is placed on the airline, they will be the ones that will have to pay a good part of the liability for this. It could be hundreds of millions of dollars." Although the payouts could reach high levels, Korean Air's Insurance Company is protected by reinsurance. "They basically insure themselves. Reinsurance is insurance for insurance companies," Zulka said. Through reinsurance, risk is assumed by other companies in return for a portion of the premium.
Most analyst agree that there will be no immediate financial impact from the Guam crash. The impact would instead be long term, coming from damage done to its image. "Korean Air enjoys an excellent cash flow," said Lee Chulhee of Dongwon Securities Co. Last year Korean Air carried 46 percent of passengers travelling in and out of South Korea, taking a total revenue of $4.1 billion, up 8.4 percent from the year before. It plans to spend $10 billion by 2005 to double its fleet of jets which now totals 121.
The magazine Guam Business estimates that donations made by businesses in the Mariana Islands exceeded $1 million. The navy estimates its efforts cost at least $690,000 not including transportation. The Air Force estimates it spent about $325,000 on equipment, supplies and personnel. Government relief efforts involved 30 governor's office employees and at least 100 employees from government agencies as the Airport Authority which reported $86,000 in overtime and the Guam Power Authority which estimates about $60,000 to repair the broken fuel pipeline.
Pacific Daily News announced on 3sep97 that Chung Yong-hak, 40 had died at the Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Korean ministry officials said that his blood pressure suddenly dropped. He was a former GMH patient listed as critical under the name Jun, Young Hak. Han Kyu-Hee, a Korean Air Flight Attendent, age 26, also died earlier on August 30th Saturday at the Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. She was a transfer patient from Naval Hospital.
Governor Gutierrez is working with federal officials and the Korean government to determine the best design and location for the site. The governor wants the families of the victims to know their loved ones and the tragedy surrounding their untimely deaths will not soon be forgotten. "The crash of KAL Flight 801 will forever stay in the hearts and minds of the people of Guam. We hope that the families of the victims and the victims themselves have heard the many prayers of our people have said for them. I believe the construction of a memorial will give the victim's families a place to go to pay tribute to their loved ones," said Gutierrez.
Efforts following the crash of Korean Air Lines Flight 801 have shifted to identifying bodies through DNA testing, this after all conventional means of identification were exhausted. DNA samples have been prepared for transport to South Korea and the United States. Both countries will share test results.
Recovery for human remains was completed last week. A temporary mortuary set up shortly after the crash will be shut down at 5:00 p.m. today. A total of 93 bodies have been identified. However, due to the extreme heat involved in the crash, there is a very real possibility that not all victims will be accounted for.
Roughly 35 family members of crash victims remain on Guam. A temporary support center has been set up at the Hanjin Condominiums in Agana. For more information, contact Clifford Guzman at 475-9304.
The Government of Guam reaffirms that every possible effort was made to rescue the survivors of the Korean Air 801 crash -- and every person that could have been saved, was saved. A unified command at the site, including federal, military and GovGuam safety officials determined the course of the rescue efforts - including all decisions on access, fire suppression and most especially, emergency treatment for survivors. We have reviewed the initial incident reports by all GovGuam personnel involved in the rescue effort, and we have consulted with military officials. We remain confident that the actions taken by recue personnel involved in responding to this tragic crash saved many lives.
In the ordinary course of debriefing and upgrading our safety procedures, we are continuing to review rescue efforts. Meanwhile, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola officially called off recovery teams at approximately 3:30 this afternoon. Dr. Espinola made a final visit to the crash site and has determined, in coordination with deferal, military and local officials, that all human remains have been recovered.
August 23, 1997 Saturday Guam. ABC reported that the Flight 801's pilots rushed their preparations for landing and miscalculated their descent to the runway at the A.B. Won Pat Guam International Air Terminal. One pilot called for a "go around," or missed approached, just before the Korean Air jetliner crashed, according to the ABC report. NBC and ABC reported Thursday Aug 21 97 that more people aboard the jumbo jet could have been saved, but firefighters didn't try to extinguish blazes caused by the crash. According to Fire Chief Gil Reyes, "The fire was on the wing and a tire that was far away from the main fuselage where the passengers were." (SEE picture of wing above). The blaze posed no threat to the crash victims or the rescuers in the area. Early rescue efforts were delayed by a severed 12-inch metal fuel pipe which blocked access to the wreckage. After leaving their vehicles in from of the broken pipe, firefighters and other rescuers hiked through dense swordgrass to get to the crash victims. by a severed 12-inch metal fuel pipe
According to www.computerworld.com, errors in low-altitude warning software used by the Minimum Safe Altitude Warning systems at two U.S. airports were discovered and corrected after the FAA ordered nationwide testing of the systems after the KAL crash. Problems were uncovered in Fayetteville, N.C. and Florence, S.C., the FAA announced on Aug 15 97 (mainland date). In addition, the software at the Aspen/Pitkin, Colo., airport isn't being used because of a large number of false alarms. Another 191 systems were found to work properly.
Korean Air Guam Night Flights to be Halted {Associated Press} The Korean Air President spoke at a parliamentary hearing in Seoul regarding the crash and said that Guam night flights would be suspended until the cause of the crash near Nimitz Hill would be determined. Starting Monday Aug 18, night flights would be replaced with flights leaving Seoul at 9:50 a.m. and arriving in Guam at 3pm. Return flights would depart the island at 4pm. This schedule change was determined by the construction and Transportation Ministry. On Oct 1st, Korean announced that a complete pullout of operations out of Guam until March 28, 1998. Another Korean Airline, Asiana Air has halted flights into Guam until Sept 12th when FAA will press back into service the Glide Slope device.
The National Transportation Safety Board on-site investigation team will be leaving Guam Wed night Aug 13, 1997 to continue its studies at Washington D.C. "It's too early to form any sorts of conclusions. We don't know why it happened", said George Black in regards to the Korean Air Flight 801 crash.
According to www.computerworld.com, errors in low-altitude warning software used by the Minimum Safe Altitude Warning systems at two U.S. airports were discovered and corrected after the FAA ordered nationwide testing of the systems after the KAL crash. Problems were uncovered in Fayetteville, N.C. and Florence, S.C., the FAA announced on Aug 15 97 (mainland date). In addition, the software at the Aspen/Pitkin, Colo., airport isn't being used because of a large number of false alarms. Another 191 systems were found to work properly.
Korean Air Guam Night Flights to be Halted {Associated Press} The Korean Air President spoke at a parliamentary hearing in Seoul regarding the crash and said that Guam night flights would be suspended until the cause of the crash near Nimitz Hill would be determined. Starting Monday Aug 18, night flights would be replaced with flights leaving Seoul at 9:50 a.m. and arriving in Guam at 3pm. Return flights would depart the island at 4pm. This schedule change was determined by the construction and Transportation Ministry. Another Korean Airline, Asiana Air has halted flights into Guam until Sept 12th when FAA will press back into service the Glide Slope device.
The National Transportation Safety Board on-site investigation team will be leaving Guam Wed night Aug 13, 1997 to continue its studies at Washington D.C. "It's too early to form any sorts of conclusions. We don't know why it happened", said George Black in regards to the Korean Air Flight 801 crash.
1. NTSB 7:30pm Press Release at the Parc Hotel Kepuha rm, 3rd flr NTSB discovered that another FAA safety device called the Minimum Safe Altitude Warning System (MSAW) was not working. This safety device within a 6 1/2 mile radius allows the control tower to predict 15 seconds in advance if the plane is flying to low. NTSB stated that although this FAA device and the glide slope was not working it was not the cause of the accident. NTSB stated that those devices mainly provide a higher level of safety. NTSB also said that the 747 jet has devices that also alert them of low altitude and other warnings. There will be another briefing tonight August 11 7:30pm at the same location.
2.Body recovery
As of 8/24/97 a total of 203 bodies were recovered 88 were positively
identified and the families were notified but the remiander were
still yet to be identified. NTSB has completed all interviews with
family members of the crash victims and will continue the recovery
and identification of crash victims.
3. All of GMH crash victims were medivaced out of Guam as of 8/10/97 1 was released 8/9/97, and 1 was medivaced 8/10/97 to Brooks Army Medical Center in Texas. The rest of the GMH patients were medivaced to Seoul, Korea. From Naval Hospital 4 patients remain hospitalized 3 local residents and 1 New Zealander. 3 seriously burned patients were medivaced to Brooks Army Medical Center in Texas. At Brooks Army Medical Center 3 are in critical condition and 1 is in serious condition their names are as follows HAN Gyu Hee, JUNG Young Hak, CHUNG Grace.
News Conference at Media site occurred on August 7, 1997 7pm, Nimitz Hill with NTSB(George Black), Governor Gutierrez's representative(Clifford Guzman), and COMNAVMAR(Admiral Martin Janckzek). NTSB George Black praised efforts of the people of Guam and the coordination and cooperation of both local government and U.S. Military he said was one of the best he has seen.
NTSB team arrived with 18 investigators who will be broken up into
various investigation groups. They will look at pilot action, training,
weather, and anything that might have affected flight.
- so far team has been studying the debris
- black box in Washington for review, quality of box was fair
- they will get a better read of voice box contents in a day or so.
- survey of air traffic control data
- debris on scene
- may take 1 year to determine cause of accident
- photographic documentation
- investigation did not delay recovery of bodies
- glidescope system was out of order but aircarriers were well
informed of the glidescope status
- look at weather conditions and also possible windsheer
- South Korea will join in NTSB investigation
- interview survivors to piece together last minutes of flight
NTSB Numbers (671) 647-4617/4618
Governor's Office Information Hotline (671)-475-9300