Official reports indicate terrorism was not a factor in Saturday’s crash at San Francisco International Airport.
An Asiana Airlines flight carrying 307 passengers from Shanghai, China, by way of Seoul, South Korea, crashed while attempting to land at San Francisco’s airport on Saturday. Two passengers were reported dead at the scene, and 181 others were transported to local hospitals, many in critical condition.
While the cause for the crash has not yet been determined, official reports from the FBI have ruled out any form of terrorism. According to USA Today, “The Boeing 777 appeared to have touched down tail-first and short of the runway. A sheered off tail section rested several hundred feet from the main body of the aircraft, and debris from the plane littered the runway.”
Both of the passengers who died were found outside of the jetliner, and an official was quoted by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency stating that that Chinese government “confirmed that the two fatalities were Chinese nationals.”
According to CBS News’ aviation and safety analyst Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, who is also the Bay Area pilot who landed the “Miracle on the Hudson” flight, explained that it was possible ongoing construction at San Francisco International Airport would be examined as a factor in Saturday’s crash. And Reuters reports that:
A widely-used landing assistance system known as “Glide Path” had been turned off at San Francisco International for much of the summer, and while it was not unusual for the system to be turned off during good weather conditions, it would likely be another factor for investigators to consider.
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Sullenberger said that with the landing assistance turned off, “The pilots would have had to rely solely on visual cues to fly the proper glide path to the runway, and not have had available to them the electronic information that they typically have even in good weather at most major airports.”
David Eun, who is an executive with Samsung was one of the passengers on the flight, and was one of the first to tweet photos and news of the passengers.
I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I’m ok. Surreal… (at @flySFO) [pic] — https://t.co/E6Ur1XEfa4
— David Eun (@Eunner) July 6, 2013
Fire and rescue people all over the place. They’re evacuating the injured. Haven’t felt this way since 9/11.… — https://t.co/xgWDVbkOyR
— David Eun (@Eunner) July 6, 2013
Our sympathy goes to the victims and their families. In the meantime, events like these bring up much of the difficult topics we talk about here. The heroism of first responders, and how we need increasing amounts of people on the front lines. There is also an increasing likelihood that people will survive catastrophic events like these—whether those events are shootings, bombings, acts of terrorism, war, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, wildfires or plane crashes. What does the world look like when there is a higher percentage of trauma survivors? And finally, should we all have more training and education in first responder training, first aid, and emergency preparedness? We welcome your views.
Photo: AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez