Passenger jet crashes at San Francisco airport: Catastrophe after 'tail snapped off Boeing 777 on landing and made aircraft spin around'
By KATIE DAVIES
|
A Boeing 777 plane carrying 291 passengers crash landed at San Francisco airport this afternoon.
The tail of the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 flight from South Korea was ripped off in the horrific accident 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.
The extent of injuries suffered by those on the plane are still unknown but several passengers could be seen fleeing down emergency inflatable slides.
A huge smoke cloud could be seen for miles from the site of San Francisco International and tourists in the airport terminal and on waiting flights could only look on in horror as the plane spun across the runway on its belly.
Major accident: The plane which may have been carrying up to 450 passengers crash landed at San Francisco today
Landing: The plane failed to land safely and witnesses described watching the tail and then the wings being ripped off as it hurtled along the runway on its belly
Onlookers said much of the tail came off in the crash while others reported seeing the plane's fuselage spinning around as it journeyed across the concourse.
The entire ceiling of the plane was destroyed in the blaze that immediately followed.
Emergency workers rushed to the plane and doused it with white foam to try and control the flames. They were able to help those who were miraculously able to escape the wreckage and were seen fleeing down emergency slides.
Witnesses spoke of their horror.
One witness Jennifer Sorgen said: 'It hit the end of the runway by the water and the tail broke off at that point and it continued down the runway on its belly then proceeded to make 360 spin.'
An onlooker named Kristina Stapchuck told CNN it looked like the tires split and the plane leaned back on the tail before the tail broke off.
Others described it as 'cartwheeling' across the runway.
Danielle Wells tweeted: 'I just saw a plane crash start to finish. I can't stop crying, I can't believe this.'
Asiana flight: The passenger jet crash landed after seemingly suffering no issues while in the air
Debris: Bits of the large 777 were thrown from the plane
One witness told CNN that there didn't seem to be any preparations for a crash landing before the plane came in suggesting it was an issue that only emerged on landing.
The weather conditions were also described as ideal for San Francisco airport which can often be blighted with fog and poor visibility.
Luckily no other standing planes were caught in the accident despite dozens waiting to take off from the major airport.
The plane departed Incheon airport near South Korea's capital around 12 hours ago and was due to land at 9.45am on the West Coast.
All flights in and out of San Francisco have now been cancelled.
Face CEO Sheryl Sandberg was supposed to be on the flight but decided to change her flight last minute so she could use air miles on a United flight instead, according to her post on Facebook.
'Taking a minute to be thankful and explain what happened. My family, colleagues Debbie Frost, Charlton Gholson and Kelly Hoffman and I were originally going to take the Asiana flight that just crash-landed. We switched to United so we could use miles for my family's tickets. Our flight was scheduled to come in at the same time, but we were early and landed about 20 minutes before the crash.'
Scroll Down for Video
Survivors: Several passengers were able to escape the plane and were photographed by onlookers fleeing the wreck
Crash landing: The plane pictured on the runway at San Francisco airport
Smoke cloud: Smoke from the plane crash could be seen for miles
Asiana is a South Korean airline, second in size to national carrier Korean Air. It has recently tried to expand its presence in the United States, and joined the oneWorld alliance, anchored by American Airlines and British Airways.
The 777-200 is a long-range plane from Boeing. The twin-engine aircraft is one of the world's most popular long-distance planes, often used for flights of 12 hours or more, from one continent to another. The airline's website says its 777s can carry between 246 to 300 passengers.
The last time a large U.S. airline lost a plane in a fatal crash was an American Airlines Airbus A300 taking off from JFK in 2001.
Smaller airlines have had crashes since then. The last fatal U.S. crash was a Continental Express flight operated by Colgan Air, which crashed into a house near Buffalo, N.Y. on Feb. 12, 2009. The crash killed all 49 people on board and one man in a house.
No comments:
Post a Comment