At least two dead in San Francisco airport jet crash: Terror after ‘tail snapped off Boeing 777 on landing’ and it burst into flames
- Asiana Airlines Flight 214 from Seoul, South Korea, to San Fransisco crash during landing at around 11.30am PDT
- Boeing 777 carried 291 passengers; flight had 16 crew members on board
- At least 10 people listed in critical condition, including two children
- 141 of the passengers aboard Flight 214 were Chinese, 77 were South Korean, 61 were American and 1 was Japanese
- San Francisco fire chief: At least 4 people remain unaccounted for, but not presumed dead
- Flight departed Incheon airport near South Korea’s capital around 10 hours ago and was due to land at 9.45am on West Coast
- Eyewitnesses reported seeing plane’s tail tear off and the fuselage spinning around
- FBI says no indication that terrorism was involved in the crash
By Katie Davies and Snejana Farberov
A Boeing 777 plane carrying 291 passengers crash landed at San Francisco airport this afternoon, killing at least two people, injuring dozens more and leaving at least four unaccounted for.
The tail of the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 flight from South Korea was ripped off in the tragic accident around 11.30am PDT and a huge blaze tore through the plane which onlookers described as spinning around on impact.
Horrific photographs of the damage emerged moments after the crash as well as cellphone videos of the plane as it spun out of control.
At least two of those on-board were killed with a further 130 hospitalized, local broadcaster KTVU.COM reported.
A San Francisco General Hospital official told the Associated Press that at least 10 people were in a critical condition including two children and eight adults. Six of the patients are female and four are male.
San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White said during a press conference Saturday evening that 190 people used emergency slides and walked away from the wreck. However, she added that at least 60 people remain unaccounted for at this time, but they are not presumed dead. The numbers of missing people has since been reduced to four without any explanation.
Of the 190 people who left the wrecked plane to safety, 130 have been transported to hospitals in San Francisco and San Mateo with injuries ranging from abrasions to fractures and possible internal damage.
According to Asiana Airlines, 141 of the passengers aboard Flight 214 are Chinese, 77 are South Korean, 61 are American and one is Japanese.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with passengers. We are deeply saddened by this incident,’ said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee during the news briefing.
A class of vacationing school children were on board while one passenger relayed what happened to a relative via a plane phone, according to CBSSan Francisco. Sixteen crew members were on board the craft.
Several other passengers managed to escape unscathed and could be seen fleeing down emergency inflatable slides.
A U.S. Coast Guard team was also dispatched to search the nearby water.
It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to the plane as it was landing, but some eyewitnesses said the aircraft seemed to lose control and that the tail may have hit the ground.
Audio recordings of conversations between the airport’s control tower and Flight 214 crew members suggested that those on the ground knew there was some sort of problem, promising that ’emergency vehicles are responding.’
‘We have everyone on their way,’ the air traffic controller said, according to LiveATC.net, a website that provides air traffic control audio, CNNreported.
However, when the plane ditched down near the water, no fire trucks were there to meet the flight, raising questions about the state of radio equipment aboard the Boeing 777.
