2 Dead, Dozens Injured In San Francisco Plane Crash
San Francisco’s emergency responders are on the scene of a deadly airline crash at the airport after an Asiana Airlines flight, coming in from Seoul, crash landed around 11:30 a.m.
According to Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and Mayor Edwin Lee, the accident killed two people and forced the passengers to get out of the aircraft by way of the inflatable emergency exit slides. Of the more than 300 people aboard the plane, about 60 people are still missing.
Hayes-White said more than 45 people are hospitalized. Rachael Kagan, spokeswoman for San Francisco General Hospital, said the hospital received 10 people – two children – for critical injuries. Eight other hospitals in the San Francisco area were also treating the injured.
Scene images show smoke coming from the plane, with the emergency exits open and its tail detached from the aircraft. In the roof, there are gaping holes that have also been blackened by fire.
Hayes-White said the fire crews got to the scene within minutes of the crash and noticed many people walking out of the plane and getting to safety.
According to one passenger, a Benjamin Levy, the plane’s tail hit the seawall and the plane bounced twice on the runway. Levy is being treated by doctors at San Francisco General Hospital for possible broken ribs. He said many folks were screaming and not believing what had happened.
The native Frenchman who has lived in the area for 16 years said he happened to look out the window, away from the movie playing, when he noticed the plane was too low to the ground and water. He said the pilot tries to correct the aircraft by giving it more gas. Levy said after hitting the runaway, the aircraft tried to get in the air again, only to land hard once more.
Debra Hersman, chairwoman for the National Transporation Safety Board, said teams are going to SFO to begin the investigation and check the flight data records. There is a lot of work ahead of the team, she said. An FBI spokesperson said there’s no evidence to suggest that the plane crash was the work of terrorist.
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