Interesting. I wonder what the Asiana's descent profile looks like compared to the average and some outliers of other safe 777 landings at SFO. Did you generate that image? If not, what was the source?
Unfortunately I can't find the image right now, but perhaps someone else knows where it is and can provide it?
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2013/07/07/vo-plane-sf-p...
I stand by the parent having some useful data and analysis, and the OP being totally speculation, and in many respects uninformed.
- number 1, if you say 'loss of power', makes sense as a possible cause. if you say 'icing in the FOHE', it's like saying the murder was done with a yellow pistol. nothing points to that, no icing conditions (humidity/temperature), and of course not same engine as the previous plane crash attributed to that
- number 2, you can't be unaware of an ILS out of op, you wouldn't be cleared for the ILS approach, you wouldn't be using the ILS on visual approach, you would be cued there's no signal, you wouldn't hear the outer marker, etc. etc.
- number 3, auto-throttle, well again, if you say malfunction in power setting, OK could make sense, if you get as specific as 'confliction with autopilot/auto throttle' that's a purple pistol. Clearly not on cat3 autoland, you're basically saying pilot forgot to set throttle in the right configuration for visual approach and landing.
- number 4, pilot error/bad approach, can't argue with that. the story is what's interesting, eg undiagnosed walleye vision, ate the bad fish etc.
Pilot induced oscillation on a really big scale. Coming in way too hot, slam down, whoops way over corrected, now coming in too low, whoops ran outta air and time to correct. Coming in way too hot, now are you better off trying to salvage or go around and get fired? Different nations airlines have differing policies on this...
(For the record, I have no idea how these things works, it's just very surprising)
Icing in the fuel lines may be caused by fluid flowing through an orfice (pressure differential). All that is needed is water in the fuel.
I kind of assumed the FOHE was something that used external air, it wasn't water in the oil or the fuel. you descend through humid and coolish air ie not summer heat, water condenses and freezes as it's sucked through something from the pressure differential, or from actual icing conditions. but I could be wrong.
While that's true, it takes time, and it won't get enough of the water out of the fuel[0]. Also, the aircraft must not be disturbed for the water to settle out. Operation demands for aircraft don't allow that. Even if they did, some water will remain in the fuel.
While the engines are operating, fuel is constantly circulating which disperses any water within the fuel. Airport fuel supplies at major airports are usually tightly controlled, but it's still be possible for water to get in.
>I kind of assumed the FOHE was something that used external air,
The FOHE is a Heat Exchanger, sort of like the radiator in your car, but instead of engine coolant/air the working fluids are Engine Oil/Jet Feul. Both the fuel and oil systems are closed systems, with one exception. As fuel is consumed in flight, the volume of that fuel must be displaced by outside air. Fuel tank to atmospheric pressure must never exceed some low differential pressure. This is one source of moisture ingress that must be dealt with, and can cause water to accumulate in tanks if left unchecked.
>you descend through humid and coolish air ie not summer heat,
Are you aware that the air temperature at altitude 35,000 ft is around -55C?
[0] http://www.petrolplaza.com/technology/articles/MiZlbiYxMDI3N...
edit: Here is a bunch of related photos if you're interested. http://englishrussia.com/2013/06/20/how-aircrafts-are-fueled...
"PPrune[2] also had a guy weighing in saying that when he flew for a Korean carrier he saw guys try to do banana-shaped approaches to get a smoother landing. Wouldn't be the first time the Koreans have pulled something like this."
[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1hrewx/asiana_air...
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAR214/history/20130625/0...
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAR214/history/20130626/0...
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAR214/history/20130706/0...
Nothing like URLs with obvious patterns!