Zee Media Bureau
San Francisco: In a significant revelation, it has emerged that one of the two victims of the Asiana Airlines plane crash may have died after being run over by an emergency vehicle.
A San Francisco coroner is trying to examine whether one of the two dead Chinese girls was run over by an emergency vehicle, reported the BBC.
In another revelation, Asiana Airlines on Monday said that the pilot who was at the controls of Boeing 777 that crash-landed at San Francisco airport, had no experience in landing a 777 at that airport.
It was the first time landing at San Francisco airport by the pilot of the ill-fated Asiana Airlines plane that approached the runway too slow and two early and crashed, killing two Chinese teen girls.
Notably, 305 of 307 passengers and crew survived the crash and more than a third didn`t even require hospitalization. Only a small number were critically injured.
The two Chinese teen girls, who were seated at the back of the plane, are reported to be the first-ever victims of a in a Boeing 777 crash, adds the BBC report.
The flight recorders reveal that the pilot had tried to abort the plane after coming in too slow, but the plane crashed after a second.
It was unclear if the pilot`s inexperience with the aircraft and airport played a role in Saturday`s crash. Officials were investigating whether the airport or plane`s equipment could have also malfunctioned.
Officials were investigating whether the airport or plane`s equipment could have also malfunctioned.
Asiana spokeswoman Lee Hyomin said that Lee Gang-guk, who was at the controls, had nearly 10,000 hours flying other planes but only 43 in the 777, a plane she said he still was getting used to flying. Another pilot on the flight, Lee Jeong-min, had about 12,390 hours of flying experience, including 3,220 hours on the 777, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in South Korea. Lee was the deputy pilot, tasked with helping Lee Gang-guk get accustomed to the 777, according to Asiana Airlines.
Among the questions investigators are trying to answer was what, if any, role the deactivation of a ground-based landing guidance system due to airport construction played in the crash. Such systems help pilots land, especially at airports like San Francisco where fog can make landing challenging. The conditions Saturday were nearly perfect, with sunny skies and light winds.
The flight originated in Shanghai, China, and stopped over in Seoul, South Korea, before making the nearly 11-hour trip to San Francisco. The South Korea-based airline said four South Korean pilots were on board, three of whom were described as "skilled."
With Agency Inputs
