Pilot recreates Asiana 214 crash in stunningly realistic animation

Following last weekend’s Asiana Airlines Flight 214’s tragic crash at San Francisco Airport, investigators discovered that their case would be severely hampered by the fact that there was no clear video of the plane’s attempted landing. 

To accommodate their needs, artists quickly went to work trying to recreate what happened based on passenger testimony. None of the attempts were particularly enlightening. But then former Boeing 727 pilot Jack Suchocki stepped up to lend his expertise and skill to the case.

You see, not only is Suchocki a former pilot, he’s also a forensic animator who happens to be super talented at 3D animation. His skills have proven so successful he was able to launch Eyewitness Animations, a company that provides aviation accident reconstruction animations for the purpose of supporting legal investigations.

The video he created detailing the Asiana crash is below. You’ll note that he included two planes in the descent: the “ghost plane” is flying on the correct path and altitude while the normal looking plane is how Asiana’s Flight 214 plane approached the runway.

Also worth noting is that the ghost plane would’ve been flying much faster than the 214 plane, but Suchocki slowed its speed down for the purpose of keeping it in the frame to compare the two during touchdown.

Suchocki’s video is more accurate than the other animators' attempts not only because of his background in aviation, but also because he did an incredible amount of research into the crash itself. Beyond using data from NTSB press releases, he also combed through details released in NTSB press conferences, posted on AirNav.com, and extracted from Google Earth Pro. He also took into account passenger statements, Flight 214 crew statements, FAA-released radar data, and reports posted to LivaATC.net.

Such an incredible amount of data has allowed Suchocki to post additional videos about the crash beyond that which you see above. For instance, the one below shows the plane crash from the pilot’s perspective:

Additional videos are being created as Suchocki gets more data. Current videos will also be refined and re-posted as more information continues to come in.

Story via: youtube.com