Landing Accident Results in Aircraft Fire
ANN Real-Time Update, 07.07.13, 0003 ET: Nearly a half a day after the tragic landing accident that destroyed an Asiana B777-200LR, we know the following -- There is a clear and substantial debris trail from the seawall that borders the waters of the bay and the RWY 28L displaced threshold area to the touchdown point on the runway.
Debris from the airplane is imbedded in the seawall and lines the theeshold area... most of it being the highly fragmented tail section of the 777, which appears to have lost most of the structure from the aft pressure bulkhead to the absolute tail of the aircraft. A tail strike, before the normal point of touchdown (the seawall) now appears to be pretty much a certainty based on the physical evidence. There were 290 people on board and 16 crewmembers. Two persons have died, 49 are critically injured and a total of 181 people were hospitalized. The NTSB is on site, the general media have acted even more moronically than is their custom and two runways have resumed operating at SFO.
Continuously Updated: ANN Is monitoring details about confirmed reports that an Asiana Boeing 777-200LR, listed as Flt. #214, has had a landing accident at KSFO.
Video of the scene shows an extensive and smoky fire, while YouTube video appears to show escape slides deployed, no evidence of an intact vertical stabilizer, and the aircraft seems to be on its belly. One witness, who claims to be a planespotter, reports that the tail section has, in part, seperated from the aircraft. That report indicates that the accident occured as the aircraft touched down on the runway, with a significant emission of smoke and flame at the point of touchdown. Additional video shows that much of the upper passenger area of the fuselage has been consumed in the ensuing fire but little information exists as to the extent of injuries to those aboard.
The aircraft was reportedly inbound from Seoul, Korea a flight of some 5500 statute miles, landing on R28L. Radio chatter over the fire/rescue frequencies indicates that there are at least 290 people on board and that there are a number of survivors using the deployed rescue slides.
A tweet from the Weather Channel reports that, "Weather conditions at time of plane crash at San Fran. Int'l appear to be mostly calm. Light winds (7 mph), sky in photos looks mainly clear."
Another tweet from David Eun, @Eunner, states that, "I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm ok. Surreal..."
Reports from the scene indicate that there is a debris field that stretches all the way from the water prior to the displaced threshold, suggesting the possibility of a tailstrike prior to touchdown. Additional pictures reveal an extensive amount of aircraft debris in the water, as well as along the displaced threshold... all the way to the point of touchdown.
Unfortunately, CNN has been carrying some woefully premature speculation from former DoT IG, Mary Schiavo, who never seems to miss a chance to get her name in the news when aviaion news is made.
SFO has been closed for the moment and inbound flights are either being rerouted or asked to hold while the accident is evaluated and rescue operations are underway.
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