SFO Plane Crash Survivors File Lawsuit Against Asiana, Boeing

Asiana Airlines and Boeing are accused of inadequate pilot training and poor aircraft design in a complaint filed Thursday at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

"People have become complacent in the airline industry," said Frank Pitre, an attorney representing nine people who were on the deadly Asiana Airlines Flight 214 that crash landed at San Francisco International Airport last month.

Pitre added in regards to the complacency that there has been a lack of focus, and when accidents such as the Asiana Flight 214 crash landing happen it raises awareness.

The deadly crash goes beyond a plane that was being flown too low and too slow, according to Pitre.

"One of the pilots assumed the auto throttle was engaged. It was not," he said, adding that he is looking to see what can be done to tell pilots that their automated system is not working.

Pitre and his clients also believe there was a serious shortcoming in the plane's warning system, which could have done a better job notifying the pilots when the air speed was below the targeted range.

"Both those things in combination with inattention combined to create what I call the turmoil for this crash, what I call the perfect storm," he said.

The nine Asiana plane-crash survivors Pitre represents are looking to see major changes made to the Boeing 777.

Pitre said recommendations were made to improve the safety features of the aircraft, following other plane crashes. But those recommendations were never implemented, which Pitre said needs to change, along with the way pilots communicate.

"This kind of accident was preventable," Pitre said. "It was foreseeable as it happened in the past and it should never happen again."

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