Two people were killed and dozens more injured after an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash landed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday, according to various reports.
The airplane — flight 214 from Seoul, South Korea — apparently clipped a sea wall at the edge of the runway as it was about to land, ABC News Radio reported. The plane’s tail was destroyed and the mid section of the plane was “gutted,” according to the report.
“You heard a pop and you immediately saw a large, brief fireball that came from underneath the aircraft,” a witness told CNN.
There were 291 passengers and 16 crew members on the plane at the time of the crash. One person remained missing, CNN reported.
Video on Fox News Channel showed debris scattered along the runway and the plane resting in the grass and atop foam spray deployed by emergency crews responding to the crash. Survivors could be seen leaving the plane and boarding airport buses, ABC reported.
“Fire and rescue people all over the place,” the San Francisco Chronicle quoted one passenger as tweeting. “They’re evacuating the injured. I haven’t felt this way since 9/11.”
The NTSB is investigating the crash.
“We will be looking at everything,” Reuters quoted Deborah Hersman, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, as saying. “Everything is on the table. We have to gather the facts before we reach any conclusions.”
Asiana is South Korea’s second largest airline.
“Asiana Airlines is currently investigating the specific cause of the incident as well as any injuries that may have been sustained to passengers as a result,” the airline said in a statement. “Asiana Airlines will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation of all associated government agencies and to facilitate this cooperation has established an emergency response center at its headquarters.”