Firefighter sues department over blame in Asiana crash death

24-year-veteran claims she is a "scapegoat" in the death of teen crash survivor



In the fallout from last summer's Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco, there's a whole lot of finger-pointing, and not a whole lot of people willing to take responsibility for the three passengers who died.

A firefighter has filed a lawsuit against the San Francisco Fire Department, claiming that she was made a scapegoat and falsely identified as the driver of the rig that fatally struck a teenage survivor after the crash.

Firefighter sues over being blamed in SFO Asiana crash death

16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan survived the fiery crash at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, but was killed when she was run over by two rigs as she lay on the ground near the aircraft's left wing.

According to firefighter Elyse Duckett, a 24-year veteran of the fire department, she was made a "sacrifical lamb" in fire officials' investigation of the accident, which singled her out and blamed her for Ye's death. Duckett says that by the time she arrived on the scene, Ye had already been killed by another fire rig, and her body obscured by flame-retardant foam.

Video shows Asiana crash victim before she was run over

Dash cam shows that firefighters were alerted to survivor Ye Meng Yuan before she was run over by a rig



The Asiana Airlines crash last July at San Francisco International Airport killed three passengers -- one from being run over by an emergency vehicle after the crash. Newly obtained camera footage reveals that the driver of the vehicle had been alerted to avoid the teenage survivor as she lay on the ground.

Fire rig alerted to Asiana victim before running her over

16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan survived the plane crash, but died after being hit by fire rigs. Dashboard camera footage obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle shows that a firefighter pointed out Yuan's body on the ground -- still alive, according to the coroner -- 15 minutes before she was run over by the truck.

The guys who dressed up as bloody Asiana flight attendants

The unwelcome return of "Ho Lee Fuk," "Sum Ting Wong" and "Wi Tu Lo."



Well, Halloween is upon us. And with the early weekend festivities came a whole lot of crappy racist costumes, documented on social media for all to see. Just when you think you've seen all the bad taste you can take, a photo like this comes my way, taking that shit to new heights.

Behold, the assholes who dressed up as bruised and bloodied Asiana Airlines flight attendants. This photo was apparently taken over the weekend at the Sidetrack Video Bar in Chicago.

Their costumes, of course, refer to Asiana Airlines Flight 214, which crashed earlier this year in San Francisco, killing three passengers. And yes, their name badges identify themselves as "Ho Lee Fuk," "Sum Ting Wong" and "Wi Tu Lo" -- the fake racist flight crew names that infamously ran as a prank on KTVU.

KTVU's fake racist Asiana crew names came from an ex-pilot

By now, you know that Bay Area news station KTVU got into some trouble after reporting fake racist names for the crew of the fatal Asiana Airlines flight that crashed in San Francisco last month. The station apologized, an intern got fired, producers were dismissed, and the airline threatened to sue. The incident unleashed all kinds of havoc, but it's never quite been clear where those phony names came from.

Turns out, the names came from an ex-commercial pilot who previously had consulted with KTVU and was considered a reliable source. I'm willing to bet that the station is no longer on good terms with that guy anymore: Pilot consultant source of KTVU's fake pilot list, report says.

According to blogger Richard Lieberman, the whole incident sounds like a complete breakdown in the chain of reporting, which included an Asian American managing editor in the newsroom, Michelle Toy, who apparently did indeed raise the issue that the names sounded suspicious:

KTVU producers fired over racist Asiana name prank

Catching up on some news that dropped while I was out... In case you hadn't heard, some folks did indeed get fired for the racist name prank that made it on the air in the wake of the Asiana Airlines crash earlier this month: KTVU producers fired over Asiana pilots' fake names.

Last week, KTVU confirmed that the station fired three veteran producers over the four fake names that should never have made it on the air. Investigative producer Roland DeWolk, special projects producer Cristina Gastelu and producer Brad Belstock were all given the boot after an in-house investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, the station has been quietly trying to the get all the clips of the on-air gaffe pulled from YouTube, citing copyright infringement:

Uh, never mind. Asiana Airlines is not suing KTVU.

On second thought, maybe not. Asiana Airlines will not pursue a lawsuit against KTVU for those racially offensive names that made it on the air last week: Asiana won't sue KTVU for mistake.

NTSB fires intern who confirmed fake, racist Asiana names

Well, at least we know somebody got fired. The NTSB intern who confirmed the fake, racist names of the Asiana Flight 214 pilots to KTVU -- which the station went ahead and reported on air -- has been fired: NTSB Intern Fired After KTVU Reported Fake, Racist Names.

It's still not clear where KTVU came up with the names (maybe a bathroom wall?), but according to the National Transportation Safety Board's statement, a summer intern "acted outside the scope of his authority" when he confirmed the fake names in response to KTVU's query.

UPDATE: According to The Desk, the intern in question has been identified as Alexander Fields-Lefkovic, whose job duties as an intern with the NTSB's public affairs office involved routing media inquiries to appropriate parties at the agency -- a job he apparently failed to perform last Friday.

The NTSB apologized and promised that "appropriate actions" would be taken to ensure this wouldn't happen again. Step one: fire this intern's foolish ass. Now, how about you, KTVU?

Asiana Airlines suing KTVU for racist fake name report

(UPDATED) In the aftermath of KTVU's on-air racist fake pilot name prank debacle, Asiana Airlines has announced that it is suing the TV station -- but not the National Transportation Safety Board -- over the incident that "damaged the company's image": Asiana to sue San Francisco TV station over names.

It was an epic, mind-blowing fail. The names, which were presumably plagiarized from a fourth grader's joke book were actually displayed and read aloud on air. KTVU said the names were confirmed by the NTSB. The NTSB blamed a summer intern. KTVU issued not one, but two apologies. I'm hoping multiple people got fired.

And now, the airline has confirmed that it will take legal action against the Oakland TV station for allowing the racially offensive names to get on the air. Asiana claims the gaffe "seriously damaged the reputation of the four pilots and the company." The NTSB, however, is apparently off the hook:

Third victim dies in Asiana Airlines crash

More terrible news... A third passenger in the Asiana Airlines crash has died. The victim, described as a girl under age 18, had sustained serious injuries when Flight 214 crashed landed at San Francisco International Airport last Saturday: S.F. plane crash: Third victim dies.

The girl, who had been one of three patients in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital, died of her injuries on Friday morning. Her family requested that the hospital not release her identity.

Police also confirmed that 16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan, one of the two Chinese teenagers who were killed on the day of the crash, was run over by a firetruck that responded to the emergency. It still isn't clear whether Ye was already dead when she was hit:

"Captain Sum Ting Wong"? For real? Pranked news station reports racist fake Asiana flight crew names

Holy crap. This has to be one of the most epic broadcast news fails I've seen... and it's racist as hell. Earlier today, Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU reported the names of four pilots aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214. Except KTVU got pranked, and the names they were reported were waaaay wrong: KTVU Reports Asiana Air Pilots Were "Sum Ting Wong" and "Ho Lee Fuk."

Yes, these are the "names" that were actually uttered and displayed on live television: "Captain Sum Ting Wong," "Wi Tu Lo," "Ho Lee Fuk," and "Bang Ding Ow." I am not kidding you. There's apparently a racist fourth grader running the show over at KTVU. Here's a video of the gaffe:

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:

"FRIGHT 214." Seriously, Chicago Sun-Times?

Several folks have drawn my attention to this front page headline of this Chicago Sun-Times headline that ran yesterday in the aftermath of the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco. Seriously -- FRIGHT 214?

One could argue it's merely a pun, but I can't help but note that we happen to be talking about the deadly crash of an Asian-owned airline, in which two of the victims were Chinese, with a Korean pilot in the cockpit. Maybe someone could have used a little more sensitivity instead of trying to get clever with the L/R play on words?

At the very least, it's in extremely poor taste. Huge thumbs down to the Sun-Times.

UPDATE: According to the Asian American Journalists Association's MediaWatch, Sun-Times Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jim Kirk said it didn't dawn on his editors that the play on words could be construed as offensive: Chicago Sun-Times publisher responds to 'Fright 214' headline.

Two dead in Asiana Airlines crash

By now, you've heard about the fiery crash of Asiana Airlines flight 214 on the runway at San Francisco International Airport, which killed two people and injured more than 180 others -- several in critical condition. The flight was arriving from Seoul when the Boeing 777 made a hard landing, lost its tail and caught on fire on Saturday morning: Asiana Airlines Plane Crashes At San Francisco International Airport.

One man caught the crash on camera: