San Francisco Crash: Trainer Was New To Job

The trainer charged with guiding the pilot of an Asiana Airlines plane that crashed in San Francisco was on his first day in the job, the airline has confirmed.

Asiana said Lee Jung-Min was in a new role as trainer to Lee Kang-Kuk, 46, who was at the controls when the jet clipped a sea wall short of the runway and skidded out of control.

Lee Jung-Min had previously built up more than 3,000 hours of flight time on the Boeing 777, a spokeswoman told the AFP news agency.

The airline had earlier revealed that Lee Kang-Kuk had just 43 hours of experience on the aircraft, although he had accumulated more than 9,000 hours of flying on other planes.

Asiana CEO Yoon Young-Doo defended both men at a news conference.

He said the pilot had flown into San Francisco 29 times on an A320, while the trainer had landed at the airport 33 times in a Boeing 777 like the one involved in the fatal crash.

Fire officials have also admitted that one of the two teenage girls killed in the crash may have been struck by an emergency vehicle attending the scene.

Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and Assistant Deputy Chief Dale Carnes both raised the possibility at a news conference with first responders.

"There was a possibility one of two fatalities might have been contacted by one of our apparatus at one point during the incident," Mr Carnes said.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said his office was conducting a post-mortem to determine whether the victim survived the Boeing 777 crash, but was run over and killed by a responding vehicle.

He said his staff had been notified of the possibility by senior San Francisco Fire Department officials at the crash site on Saturday.

National Transportation Safety Board chief Deborah Hersman said investigators have reviewed airport surveillance video, but had not been able to reach any conclusions.

She said the possibility that the girl had been run over was a "very serious issue".

"I can tell you that the two fatalities were located in seats towards the rear of the aircraft," Ms Hersman said.

"This is an area of the aircraft that was structurally significantly damaged. It's an area where we're seeing a lot of the critical of serious injuries."

Ms Hersman said the lower portion of the plane's tail cone was found embedded in rocks forming part of the sea wall.

A "significant piece" of the tail of the aircraft was in the water and other plane parts were visible at low tide, she said.

Remarkably, 305 of 307 passengers and crew survived the crash, and more than a third did not even require a trip to hospital.

Only a small number were critically injured.

Survivor Kim Jee-Eun told how she blacked out after the impact and then scrambled from the plane as the cabin filled with smoke.

She said: "All hell broke loose. In the blink of an eye people around me were gone.

"Some people's seat belts were unbuckled - they bounced off their seats like a spring.

"Seats were upside down, bags were everywhere and oxygen masks were hanging like spider webs.

"I can't explain the horror I felt when I woke up, with no-one there in the back of the plane.

"I tried to get up but my leg was stuck. Passengers and cabin crew were running around so I thought I should help myself.

"I jumped on to the wing but there were sharp objects and it was slippery because of the liquid that the firefighters had sprayed."

Some passengers, who said the plane's emergency slide was punctured and stopped working, suggested the damage was caused by suitcases carried by some people as they escaped.

Investigators said Asiana Airlines Flight 214 had been travelling "significantly below" the target speed during its approach and the crew tried to abort the landing just before it smashed onto the runway.

What they do not yet know is whether the pilot's inexperience with the Boeing 777 and landing at San Francisco airport played a role.

Officials said the probe would also focus on whether the airport or plane's equipment could have malfunctioned.

Firefighters said they encountered smoke, leaking jet fuel and passengers coming down on chutes when they arrived at the crash site.

Lt Christine Emmons said she and her partner ran up a chute into the plane and found four passengers trapped in the back.

The conditions in the plane were changing rapidly, with the fire coming down on rescuers and the smoke thickening as the trapped passengers were pulled out to safety, she said.