Two Dead, 181 Hurt In San Francisco Plane Crash
SAN FRANCISCO (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - A federal aviation official says an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed and burned at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday. Two passengers were killed and at least 181 others were injured, according to CBS 5 KPIX in San Francisico. Asiana Flight 214 was arriving from Seoul, South Korea.
Three flights to San Francisco and seven flight from San Francisco to DFW International Airport were cancelled Sunday as a result of the crash.
Eight flights that were scheduled to depart DFW International Airport for San Francisco Saturday afternoon were cancelled as a result of the crash. Also, five flights scheduled to arrive at DFW Saturday evening from San Francisco were cancelled.
Early reports indicate the tail came apart from the plane and the resulting fire sent black smoke billowing into the air, visible for miles.
A video clip posted to YouTube shows smoke coming from a silver-colored jet on the tarmac. Passengers could be seen jumping down the inflatable emergency slides. Television footage showed debris strewn about the tarmac and pieces of the plane lying on the runway.
BELOW: Video of the scene posted on YouTube by straylor/360 Kid.
Fire trucks had sprayed a white fire retardant on the wreckage.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team of investigators to San Francisco to probe the crash. NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said Saturday that NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman would head the team.
The 777-200 is a long-range plane from Boeing and is part of the Star Alliance, the world's first and largest global airline alliance, headquartered in Germany.
Asiana is South Korea's second largest airline, after Korea Air. According to a DFW Airport release, Korea is the second largest trading partner for North Texas, totaling more than $7.5 billion dollars in 2011, the last year numbers were available. Asiana currently offers five cargo flights a week to the South Korean capital, one more than when it started up business here just a year ago. The cargo jets delivering to DFW don't connect through San Francisco, however, but take a much more northerly route.
Asiana Airlines released the following statement:
Asiana Airlines flight OZ214 (Aircraft Registration HL7742) departed Incheon International Airport on July 6, 2013 at 16:35 (Korea time) bound for San Francisco. Only July 6, 2013 at 11:28 (Local time) an accident occurred as OZ214 was making a landing on San Francisco International Airport's runway 28.
There were a total of 291 passengers (19 business class, 272 travel class) and 16 cabin crew aboard. The majority of the passengers were comprised of 77 Korean citizens, 141 Chinese citizens, 61 US citizens, 1 Japanese citizen, etc. for a total of 291 people. Asiana Airlines is currently investigating the specific cause of the incident as well as any injuries that may have been sustained to passengers as a result. Asiana Airlines will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation of all associated government agencies and to facilitate this cooperation has established an emergency response center at its headquarters.
The twin-engine aircraft is one of the world's most popular long-distance planes, often used for flights of 12 hours or more, from one continent to another. The airline's website says its 777s can carry between 246 to 300 passengers.
The last time a large U.S. airline lost a plane in a fatal crash was an American Airlines Airbus A300 taking off from JFK in 2001.
Smaller airlines have had crashes since then. The last fatal U.S. crash was a Continental Express flight operated by Colgan Air, which crashed into a house near Buffalo, N.Y. on Feb. 12, 2009. The crash killed all 49 people on board and one man in a house.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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