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7.08.2013

File Under Badass: Kim Ji-yeon, Asiana Flight Attendant



Amidst the reporting around the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214, one flight attendant has emerged as a hero in the fiery chaos: What made an Asiana flight attendant a hero in SFO crash?

In the moments after the crash, as passengers scrambled to evacuate the wreckage, Asiana flight attendant Ji-yeon Kim reportedly helped to clear the plane, assisting the injured and carrying people as much as twice her size on her back before the whole damn thing went up in flames:

After the plane crash-landed, he said, the captain went on the loudspeaker and told everyone to get off the plane. The crew immediately went to work, opening emergency exits, deploying the inflatable slides and guiding passengers. By then, most people could smell smoke and got off quickly, except for those who were injured, said Mr. Rah, who splits his time between Seoul and Las Vegas, Nev.

One tiny woman, who he said is flight attendant Kim Ji-yeon, stood out to him, because she was helping the injured, "carrying people piggyback" who couldn't walk. Tears were streaming down her face, he said, as she helped clear the plane only minutes before flames engulfed the passenger cabin.

He copied her name off her uniform nametag, he said, because "she was a hero."
That's Ms. Kim on the left in the photo above (taken by crash survivor Eugene Anthony Rah), looking like she just finished doing some badass rescuing. More here: The Story Behind a Crash Survivor's Photo.

And here: No One's Talking About the Flight Attendant Heroes in the SFO Crash.

UPDATE: Also, a thousand further props to flight attendant and cabin manager Lee Yoon-hye and the rest of the crew of Flight 214: Asiana attendant describes dramatic evacuation