Asiana Airlines Airbus A350-900 Dips To 375 Feet On Approach 3 Miles Away From San Francisco
An Asiana Airlines aircraft recently had an issue during landing approach at San Francisco International Airport and dropped altitude more than anticipated when it was still three miles away from the runway. The plane was arriving from Seoul, a busy sector served by multiple airlines.
Asiana Airlines A350 drops altitude
On February 23, an Asiana Airlines
Airbus A350-900 aircraft, performing flight OZ-212, was on its final approach to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) when the air traffic control noticed an anomaly in its altitude.
According to a report by The Aviation Herald, the San Francisco Airport tower contacted the A350’s cockpit crew and issued a low altitude alert, and asked them to check their altitude. The Asiana cockpit crew then initiated a go-around and landed on their second approach after 16 minutes.
To quote The Aviation Herald on this,
“According to ADS-B data the aircraft was descending through about 650 feet AGL (325 feet according to transponder measuring to standard pressure corrected for actual ambient pressure) when the aircraft should have been at 1000 feet 3.05nm before the runway threshold.”
Seoul-San Francisco is a busy route with several airlines offering services. According to data by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, there are more than 135 flights from Seoul to San Francisco in February. United Airlines, Korean Air
, and Air Premia also fly on this route.
Missed approaches
Pilots are adequately trained for missed approaches, and standard procedures are in place to execute these maneuvers safely. However, the cockpit crew can decide to initiate a go-around for various reasons, such as poor visibility, unstable approach speed, or incorrect alignment with the runway.
A missed approach does not necessarily reflect a pilot error and is considered part of standard procedure to maintain the safety of the aircraft and its occupants. Sometimes, everything goes well during a landing until the last moment when a sudden change of conditions can force the pilot to go around.
Photo: M101Studio | Shutterstock
Once it has been decided that the approach to land is no longer safe, the aircraft must climb back to a designated altitude. The pilot increases engine power, retracts the landing gear, and establishes a safe climb. After the go-around, the aircraft will follow specific instructions from air traffic control, which may involve joining a holding pattern or being vectored for another approach. Simple Flying has analyzed this in detail in the article below.
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Missed Approaches & Go-Arounds: 5 Things To Know
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Similar incidents
There have been other incidents in the past similar to the one involving Asiana Airlines. In June 2024, A Southwest Airlines aircraft came significantly close to the ground when it was still miles away from the airport runway in Oklahoma City. The incident triggered a low-altitude warning, prompting the air traffic control to check the situation with the pilots.
The Boeing 737-800 descended to around 500 feet while still nine miles from Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport and flew low over Yukon High School. The cockpit crew responded that they were going around and received ATC instructions to maintain 3,000 feet. The 737 returned for a successful landing the second time around.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
A month later, another Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was
involved in a similar incident
during its approach to Tampa International Airport (TPA). The aircraft came dangerously close to Tampa Bay’s waters—reportedly reaching a height of 150 feet—during inclement weather.
An air traffic controller then told the pilots to check their altitude and ensure that the aircraft’s altimeter—the instrument that determines the correct altitude for aircraft—was set appropriately. The aircraft managed to gain altitude after that, but the pilots decided to do a go-around and divert to Fort Lauderdale.
Southwest had multiple safety-related incidents last year, resulting in increased oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The review ended in December last year with the FAA not identifying any significant safety issues.
