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- The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the 2013 accident
- Investigators said actions by the cockpit crew caused the crash in San Francisco
- The Boeing 777 crashed short of the runway; three people were killed, 187 hurt
(CNN) -- Pilots botched the approach and landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco nearly a year ago, causing a crash that killed three people and injured 187 others, U.S. safety investigators concluded on Tuesday.
But the National Transportation Safety Board also found that crew training and the complexities of a key flight system on the Boeing 777 and how it was described in operating manuals contributed to the July 6 disaster.
Investigators, however, primarily faulted the crew of the Korean-based carrier for not fully executing intricate systems of the jetliner packed with more than 300 people before it struck a seawall and careened down Runway 28L trailing sparks and debris.
Read the NTSB's accident report summary
In a final report on its probe, the board found that the flight crew mismanaged the plane's descent being carried out without the help of navigational instruments and one of the pilots unintentionally deactivated a system that automatically regulates airspeed.
In this handout photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 sits just off the runway at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday, July 7. The Boeing 777 coming from Seoul, South Korea, crashed on landing on Saturday, July 6. Three passengers, all girls, died as a result of the first notable U.S. air crash in four years.
A photo showing the damaged interior of the aircraft was released by the NTSB on July 7. The flight carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew took off from Shanghai and stopped in Seoul before heading to San Francisco.
An investigator photographs part of the landing gear at the crash site in a handout released on July 7. Investigators believe that the pilots were flying too slow and too low as they neared the airport on July 6.
An investigator inspects the broken-off tail of the plane in a handout photo released July 7. The crash killed two people, injured 182 and forced the temporary closure of one of the country's largest airports.
An investigator stands near the tail of the plane in a handout photo released on July 7. The NTSB has ruled out weather as a problem and said that conditions were right for a "visual landing."
Investigators approach the crash in a handout photo released on July 7.
Fire crews attempt to quench the blaze on Saturday, July 6.
Smoke rises from the crash site across the San Francisco Bay on July 6.
Asiana Airlines Flight 214 remains on the runway on July 6.
A plane sits on the runway on July 6 while emergency crews tend to the crash site.
A helicopter flies above the wreckage on July 6 as people observe from across the waters of San Francisco Bay.
Travelers at San Francisco International Airport look at the departures and arrivals board after Asiana Flight 214 crashed on July 6. The airport, located 12 miles south of downtown San Francisco, is California's second busiest, behind Los Angeles International.
Kevin Cheng talks on his phone as he waits in the terminal after Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash-landed on July 6. He said he was supposed to pick up students who were on board the flight from Seoul.
Passengers wait for the British Airways counter to reopen at San Francisco International Airport on July 6.
Police guard the Reflection Room at the San Francisco airport's international terminal, where passengers from Asiana Airlines Flight 214 were reportedly gathering after the crash landing on July 6.
People are escorted from the Reflection Room at the San Francisco International Airport on July 6.
Traffic backs up on U.S. Route 101 South in San Francisco on July 6. The Bay Area airport was closed to incoming and departing traffic after the crash, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
People look over the wreckage across a cove in San Francisco Bay on July 6.
Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaks to the press at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, before departing for San Francisco with an NTSB crew on July 6 to investigate the crash site.
The San Francisco Giants observe a moment of silence for those killed and hurt in the crash before their baseball game on July 6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
Crews comb the end of a San Francisco airport runway following the crash landing on July 6.
People in Seoul watch a news program reporting about the crash landing on July 6 in San Francisco. Asiana Airlines Flight 214 took off from Seoul earlier Saturday.
The plane crashed on July 6 around 11:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. ET).
People walk past the wreckage of the plane's tail on July 6.
The burned-out plane remains on the runway on July 6. Passengers and crew members escaped down the emergency inflatable slides.
Rescue workers tend to the crash site on July 6.
Debris litters the runway on July 6.
Airport shuttles arrive on the scene after the crash landing.
Wreckage from the Boeing 777 lies on the tarmac on July 6.
Crews surround the remains of the plane on July 6.
Investigators pass the detached tail and landing gear of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on July 6.
An aerial view shows the site of the crash landing between the runways on July 6.
Smoke rises from the crash site on July 6 at the airport in San Francisco.
Fire crews work at the crash site at San Francisco International Airport on July 6.
The Boeing 777 lies burned on the runway after it crashed landed on July 6.
An aerial photo of the scene on July 6 shows the extent of the plane's damage.
The burned-out plane sits surrounded by emergency vehicles on July 6.
CNN iReporter Amanda Painter took this photo while waiting at the San Francisco airport on July 6. The entire airport has shut down and flights diverted to other airports.
iReporter Val Vaden captured this photo while waiting in a departure lounge at the San Francisco airport on July 6. Val observed the billowing smoke and emergency responders' rush in.
iReporter Sven Duenwald was at home on July 6 when he saw smoke rising into the air near the San Francisco International Airport.
iReporter Timothy Clark was standing on the eighth floor of the Embassy Suites Airport Hotel when he heard a loud crashing sound from outside. "My daughter told me she heard a plane crash. I used my camera to get a clearer view and I could see a dust cloud. Then people running from the plane, then flames," he said.
A photo provided to CNN by Eunice Bird Rah -- and shot by her father, who was a passenger on the plane -- shows flames and smoke bursting out of many of the aircraft's windows.
David Eun, a passenger on Asiana Airlines Flight 214, posted this image to Path.com along with the message, "I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine, I'm ok. Surreal..." It was one of the first photographs taken after the crash.
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The crew also delayed its decision to abort the landing with the plane flying too slowly to avoid catastrophe, investigators found.
The final conclusion was largely in line with early assumptions of investigators facing the most serious commercial airline crash in the United States since a Colgan Air commuter plane fell out of the sky over Buffalo, killing 49 people in February 2009. Crew actions were also singled out in that accident.
Aviation experts agree that aircraft automation has made flying safer, and the 777 is one of the most sophisticated jetliners in service.
"But the more complex automation becomes, the more challenging it is to ensure that the pilots adequately understand it," Christopher Hart, the acting safety board chairman said in a statement. "In this instance, the flight crew over-relied on automated systems that they did not fully understand. As a result, they flew the aircraft too low and too slow and collided with the seawall at the end of the runway."
Asiana Airlines fined $500,000 for failing to help families
Asiana crash victims sue Boeing
