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First, according to investigators the pilot was in training to buy a boeing 777. second, the instructor at his side had never served in that role before. third, the jet's auto throttle. was it malfunctioning. miguel marguez has more live from san francisco. good morning, miguel. >> reporter: chris, you're exactly right, those three big questions. we're getting a much better idea of how this crash took place. the bulk of the investigation on the ground is now done. investigators saying it was the landing gear of that 777 that hit the seawall first. essentially if they were a few feet higher the...

Performance. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: investigators gathering perhaps the most crucial evidence in their investigation. interviews with the pilots of the plane. >> all of the crew members have been very cooperative and forthright with our team. >> reporter: it's clear the plane was flying too slowly. three seconds before the crash, it was coming in another 103 knots. it needed to be at 137 knots to land safely. why was the plane so slow in initial reviews of the data recorders don't appear to show any mechanical problems with the aircraft before the crash. the pilots told investigators they...

The flight crew federal investigators say the pilots were more concerned with their low approach than their dangerously low air speed. they were relying on the plane's cruise control to maintain the speed. did that auto throttle malfunction? >> there were three pilots in the cockpit during the landing. and the lead instructor was overseeing the landing. five days later the plane's wreckage is still scattered along the runway. a large piece of the tail section wound up in san francisco bay. >> when you get down to the seawall you can identify where the first strike took place. first the main la...

Monitor. we have a flying pilot, and we have two other pilots that are in the cockpit, and they have a monitoring function. one of the very critical things that needs to be monitored on an approach to the landing is speed. and so we need to understand what was going on in the cockpit and also what was going on with the aircraft. jenna: claudia cowan is live in san francisco with more on this story. what's the latest you can tell us about the pilots? >> reporter: well, jenna, what's still unclear here is whether those pilots were continually monitoring their speed even as they tried to correct ...

>> let's turn to serious news here. we have new details on what happened inside the cockpit of asiana flight 214 moments before it crashed under a san francisco runway. federal investigators say the pilots thought they set the plane's auto throttle when they came in for landing. nbc's tom costello reports. >> reporter: new pictures of the crash scene in san francisco. the top priority for investigators has been to interview all four pilots who were on board flight 214, including the veteran captain who was new to the 777 and was at the controls saturday. the teaching captain told investigators...