Asiana Airlines says the pilot of a plane that crashed Saturday at San Francisco airport was still in training flying a Boeing 777, and was trying to land that type of aircraft at the site for the first time.
The South Korea-based airline said Monday the pilot had 43 hours of experience in the 777, and more than 9,000 hours of flight time overall. A pilot more experienced with the aircraft was acting as a trainer and co-pilot on the flight.
U.S. investigators say it is too early to say what caused the crash, but that the plane was flying "significantly below" its target speed as it approached the runway and that the pilot tried to abort the landing.
National Transportation Safety Board chair Deborah Hersman said Sunday the verbal "abort" request came just 1.5 seconds before impact -- too late to avoid the crash that killed two people and injured dozens more.