Investigators are continuing to examine the training and experience of the cockpit crew of the Asiana flight that crashed Saturday in San Francisco. The pilot at the controls had nearly 10,000 hours of experience flying large jets, but only 43 hours in that particular plane, a Boeing 777. Saturday was also the pilot's first 777 landing at San Francisco International.
Pilots transition from flying one airplane model to another all the time; it's a regular part of the job as airlines add new aircraft and pilots fly new routes or get promotions to piloting bigger jets.
Most of the training for those pilots, in the U.S. and abroad, is done in very sophisticated simulators. John Barton, a senior pilot for a major U.S. airline, has been an instructor on the 777. He says once you buckle the simulator's shoulder harness and fasten the seat belts, it's just as though you are inside the actual jet.
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