Instinct takes over after fatal crash
Stunned onlookers watched a jet crash while landing in San Francisco. Bystanders watching an Asiana Boeing 777 flight make a seemingly routine approach to a San Francisco runway were stunned to see it come in fast and hit the ground hard on Saturday, while on board, passengers’ survival instincts took over.
The crash at San Francisco International Airport left two people dead, and more than 180 people, many with serious injuries, were taken to hospitals.
Vedpal Singh, a native of India, was on board the flight with his wife and son when the aircraft struck the landing strip hard.
‘‘Your instincts take over. You don’t know what’s going on,’’ said Singh, who had his arm in a sling and told reporters he had suffered a fractured collar bone. ‘‘I’m very, very thankful to God.’’ Singh lives in South Korea and was flying to California for a holiday. He said his son was fine but he had not yet been reunited with his wife.
Another passenger, Elliott Stone, told CNN he thought the aircraft had approached the airport ‘‘a little high’’ and made a sharp descent.
‘‘All of a sudden, boom, the back end just hit and flies up into the air and everyone’s head goes up the ceiling,’’ Stone said.
Greg Claxton, 39, of Sarasota, Florida, was among those who witnessed the crash from a shuttle bus travelling from his hotel to the airport.
‘‘I saw a plane coming in really fast, really hard,’’ Claxton said. ‘‘It appeared to land, spin and then fire. I instantly was praying for those people on board.’’
Claxton added that he ran off the shuttle. Others on board were crying at the sight of the crash.
After the crash, some reflected on how the disaster could have been worse.
‘‘It is incredible and very lucky that we have so many survivors,’’ San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee told reporters.
New Zealand travellers at the airport when the plane crashed were surprised by how little panic it created in the terminals.
Allan Mouat, from Havelock North, was one of about 300 people preparing to board an Air New Zealand flight from San Francisco International Airport to Auckland. The airport was immediately closed and the Air New Zealand flight was cancelled. It was a further blow to many of those on that flight, as it had already been delayed the night before because of mechanical problems.
Mouat did not see the crash because it happened near a different terminal.
‘‘I actually found out about it on the internet before they told us at the gate. You could see fire trucks and that racing around . . . but it seemed like it was all happening some distance away.
‘‘Everybody was pretty calm. When it finally got announced [30 minutes later], people were pretty solemn.’’ Fairfax Media journalist Tim Barton, who was also meant to be on the flight, said it was surprising how little panic or concern there was at the airport just after the crash.
‘‘We didn’t see any action at all for quite some time. At one stage, a bunch of medics came rushing through the gate area and there were quite a few ambulances lined up outside, but there wasn’t any sort of immediate chaos outside the windows to indicate there had been a crash.’’
Most on board the Asiana Airlines flight 214 that crashed were Chinese, South Korean or American, and the two dead were reported to be Chinese citizens.
Among the scores of passengers injured in the crash and taken to hospitals, some suffered serious wounds such as internal bleeding and spinal fractures, according to Dr David Spain, chief of trauma medicine at Stanford Hospital, where about 45 patients from the crash were taken. ‘‘I’m very, very thankful to God.’’
Two people died when this Asiana Boeing 777 slammed on to a runway at San Francisco International Airport at the weekend.