A passenger jet from Korea has crashed at the San Francisco Airport (SFO). The plane crashed while landing evacuation slides are open. It appears there are some survivors at least. People can be seen moving around the jetway near the plane possibly debarking through the slide exits. Many people are trapped on the plane which is engulfed in flames. The fire department is calling this a three alarm fire and all available ambulances are being sent to the scene. SFO is closed to all incoming and outgoing flights as this time. A passenger on the plane tweeted that he had just crash landed at SFO and the tail of the plane was ripped off but that everyone appears to be fine. The plane caught fire on landing and there may be as many as 300 passengers on board. The flight was arriving from Seoul Korea.
The guy that tweeted that everyone seemed fine must have been sitting in the back. First Class and front half of coach looks completely burnt up. The cockpit does not appear to be burned but they would have been trapped because first class was ablaze. Pilot error is suspected cause. The plane appeared to pull up very sharply causing the tail of the plane to hit the runway first, causing it to fall off.
OMG now looking at the crash on CNN the entire top of the front of the fuselage is ashes. You can see the seats of the plane from the aerial shots. This is horrible. Closer examination of the picture above shows that the people at the front of the plane also managed to get off and that the fire broke out after most everyone got off. So the burned out fuselage photos are of events that happened after evacuation. This is good news. There are reports of people who were trapped in the fire, but not nearly as many as it seemed at first. There was no communication from the pilot to the airport that there was an issue.
There are rumors that parts of the plane flew off and a passenger was thrown into the water? US Coast Guard is searching the bay for something but not saying what. That seems odd.
UPDATE: Early reports say 2 dead and 61 injured. There were 291 passengers and 16 crew on board. Theses numbers can change. Some reports one body at least was pulled from bay.
Story Developing.
the plane is relatively intact so thank god there are some survivors but massive fire was in forward compartments. Horrifying way to go. So so sad
Watching this on FOX now… Holy Moly!! Prayers for the survivors and prayers that all survived.
I like how some people evacuating are carrying their carryon bags and just sort of strolling away from the crash like it’s just another Saturday afternoon.
I thought the same then realized I would try to grab my carry on as well, especially if in a foreign country since that’s where my passport etc would be.
This is terrible!! And in an odd twist… my lunch today cost $7.77 !!
wouldnt that be called *shock* TT? Hope they all HAD clean shorts on…
A guy being interviewed on Fox said he saw the entire thing from his hotel window. He said the tires hit the edge of the runway which we clipped off and the plane came in on it’s belly. He said as the plane began to slide the cabin burst into orange flames, then smoke, then was brown. He thought the entire plane had blown until his fiancée but his fiancée turned the news on and saw the slides come out and people getting to safety. He was very upset and near tears as he told what he saw.
Has anyone heard how many people got out safely?
San Francisco General has received 10 patients thus far. Serious to critical condition; includes several children.
News Conference at San Fran General: Received 8 adults; 2 children all critical – none deceased.
Wolf Blitzer is now at the helm – CNN. At least 28 passengers have been transported to various hospitals. All hospitals report that they are expecting more patients – not sure why it is taking so long.
Passenger that was on the plane interviewed: came in too high, heard engine make a correction and all passengers hit the ceiling. He saw 5 “bodies”(flight attendants on the tarmac and shouted for help. All responders were on opposite side of plane. He was in middle part of plane; thinks that any body way back near tail was dumped out when tail severed and that may have been the 5 flight attendants he saw on the ground. he thinks most passengers got out. Saw a lot of passengers that were walking around. Says FBI is going to interview everybody and they can’t leave the airport yet.
Presser being held. Mayor – we have not accounted for everyone at this time. Hospitals receiving patients – as many as 9 hospitals.
Fire Officials – scene is secure, told it was a hard landing, observed multiple passengers walking around at scene 291, 16 crew 48 to hospital 190 people to safety zone at airport; 82 of those going to hospitals second wave. FBI is now working with them. They are looking at passenger numbers to account for all. 108 declared not needing any hospital attention.
FBI – No indication of terrorism; NTSB will be on scene to determine cause.
2 fatalities are reported as of now.
OOOH no. got moderated on this one, not sure why. Maybe the terrorism word? Sorry.
60 people could be unaccounted for at this time.
Wolf has done the math and thinks it could be 67 people unaccounted for.
Another brief press conference, now when Wolf does the math with his colleagues, it may just be 1 unaccounted for. Much better news.
Thanks for the updates, Linda. Happy to hear only one unaccounted for but sad news for loved ones of those that died. I wonder if the flight attendants that were dumped out and hit the tarmac could be the ones that died? The big T word, that probably caused moderation or several posts in a row.
So sad! Thank God that there are survivors
No problem Rose. TT was afraid she wouldn’t have power due to storms and I was watching anyway. For sure being in the back of that plane was not good. If it is only 2-3 fatalities that is a miracle. I always hate the back of the plane!
Thanks so much Linda! I lost TV and had patchy Internet so I really appreciate the updates.
On Sat, Jul 6, 2013 at 9:18 PM, Tamara Tattles
No problem, happy to do it.
The two deaths were highschool students from China. They were apparently on a school trip. Can you imagine all the Chinese parents freaking out over the plane crash? How horrible not being able to get in touch with your kids after deciding to let them travel internationally with their school? Sadly my guess is these two were in the last row of the plane (typing that alone makes me nervous, I have to request special seating because I absolutely could not fly on the back of the plane) when the tail broke off and went into the water. I think the bodies were pulled out by the coast guard. That is my speculation based on what I have heard, but how AWFUL!
sfgate has a story today that maybe 1 chinese teen killed was run over by a responder’s vehicle (fire rig suspected) as likely cause of death. still investigating this. those poor kids and their poor families… 🙁
Im glad so many survived the crash. CNN has a clip showing the crash and what a wild ride that was. They are saying too slow of airspeed as possible cause. watching the video the slower speed kept the plane from tumbleing and breaking apart after the initial impact…due to slow speed. Both caused and helped..what a world.
CNN is showing the pics of the two fatalities. Such cute girls…