‘It’s miraculous we survived’, says Indian passenger

Indian passengerSAN FRANCISCO: Vedpal Singh, an Indian who was on board ill-fated flight of South Korea’s Asiana Airlines and miraculously survived along with his family, has said there was no forewarning before the plane crashed here.

“It’s miraculous we survived,” he said, recalling his ordeal when the plane with 307 people on board hit the runway and was engulfed by flames while landing at San Francisco airport.

“We knew something was horribly wrong,” he said. But there was no forewarning from the pilot or any crew members before the flight from Seoul to San Francisco touched down hard, a visibly shaken Singh said.

He said the plane went silent before people tried to get out anyway they could, recalling his escape from the burned-out wreckage of the Boeing 777.

Singh, who was sitting in the middle of the aircraft and survived the crash with his family, suffered a fractured collarbone and other minor injuries.

His 15-year-old son said luggage fell on passengers overhead as the entire incident lasted about 10 seconds.
At least two people were killed and over 180 injured when Asiana Airlines flight OZ214 hit the runway and was engulfed by flames while landing at San Francisco International Airport.

While the sequence of events remains unclear, it appeared the plane landed and then crashed on San Francisco International Airport’s Runway 28L, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown. -PTI