1.15.4 Guam Governor's Accident Response Review
The Guam government conducted a review of its response to the accident and issued a report, titled Korean Air 801 Incident Report. According to the report, the "focus of the investigation was to identify an accurate timeline of emergency response during the first hours of the incident, and to address issues/questions raised concerning the rescue efforts. Those issues/questions concerned fire suppression, command structure and activity of key members of the rescue team."
Problems discussed in the report included the lack of radio communications between key personnel, which complicated the command situation. The report stated, "...the civilian and military components were on different and incompatible radio systems...radios had to be shared in the command post so that the various agencies could communicate."
Additionally, the report cited the remoteness of the accident site and the difficulty in bringing fire trucks close enough to the site to be effective. However, the report stated that "no fire suppression was used" because it would have "interfered with rescue operations."[1] The report also cited accounts from rescuers that indicated, "...most of the survivors were initially located away from the flames of the aircraft.... It is noted that the first rescuers arrived approximately 55 minutes after the plane had crashed.... If the fire was as intense as originally reported [immediately after impact], fatalities caused by fire and smoke inhalation would have occurred before the rescuers arrived."
1.16 Tests and Research
1.16.1 Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System Simulation
Because of advances in computer technology and terrain mapping capabilities, GPWS manufacturers have developed improved terrain avoidance systems. In 1997, the FAA certified a new terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), also known as enhanced GPWS. (See section 1.18.2.2 for general information about enhanced GPWS.) This system was not installed or required on the accident airplane.[2]
An enhanced GPWS simulation was conducted after the accident to determine the additional forewarning that the flight crew of Korean Air flight 801 would have received if such a system had been installed on the airplane. The simulation revealed that the flight crew would have received an aural "CAUTION TERRAIN" warning and a yellow visual terrain depiction on the weather radar about 60 seconds before impact. In addition,
- ↑ The report stated that water and foam were available on the fire trucks at the scene but that "water would have spread...fire caused by fuel" and "foam would have caused further injury to those with burns and/or open wounds." The report also added that airborne water buckets would have pushed the toxic gases and smoke onto rescuers.
- ↑ At the time of the accident, no enhanced GPWS system had been certified for the 747-300 series airplane.
