this is a fox news alert. asiana flight 204 from seoul, south korea crashed alt the san francisco airport. here with the very latest is claudia cowan. >> reporter: is this still greta? >> it is. >> reporter: we're hearing harrowing people froharrowing ae on board this flight. one man spoke to reporters from his hospital bed. he described how it seemed to him when the plane came in to land, it seemed very low, too close to the water. again, it seemed to him at that point the pilot tried to correct the situation, get some altitude. the plane went down, hit the runway, then went up in the air

and came down hard a second time. again, this man speaking from his hospital bed at san francisco general hospital. he said it was just incredible that virtually everyone was able to get out of that plane before it began filling up with smoke. we do know two people died. more than 180 were treated at nine local hospitals for fire and burn-related injuries. ten people at last report listed in critical condition. two of them children. we understand that 11 children were treated at the trauma center at san francisco general. the crash site itself has been secured by federal authorities who, by the way, have ruled out terrorism as a cause in all of this. the ntsb teams are on the way. they'll be combing through a very wide debris field when they arrive there at runway 28l. piece es of this plane's tail ae strewn everywhere, and they will also be looking into reports that we are trying to confirm here tonight about some special

lights that reportedly were not working on this specific runway yesterday. these are lights that help direct the pilot on approach. we heard reports that yesterday these particular lights were not working, so investigators will be looking into that. of course, witnesses have described seeing the plane not looking good at all as it tried to land version wobbly and tilted, and the landing gear was down. as far as we've been told, the pilot did not make any kind of distress call. these investigators, of course, will be looking for those flight data recorders and they'll be talking to crew members. we understand 16 crew members on board this flight. we know all, if not most of them, may have survived. again, just two dead here in this incident, and many say it's a miracle that more people were not killed or seriouslyurt. bring you back live here to san francisco international airport. we are in the international terminal where people are trying to figure out if their flights are going to take off at all or at least on time. i have seen a number of cancellations, delays, running

up to four hours in some cases, just a nightmare for folks trying to travel here on this busy holiday weekend. greta, want to send it back to you. we're awaiting another press conference coming up in 20 minutes. we'll have the latest for you after that. back to you. >> claudia, you mentioned the fact that it started rocking back and forth. i just got a viewer e-mail that said this. i took off from san francisco's airport approximately 25 minutes before the crash and one thing i noticed out of the ordinary was when taking off, i along with other passengers felt a sudden gust of wind rocking the plane side to side while on the runway when we were in the process taking off. this may be completely coincidentally from the crash itself, but one cause could have been the strong wind gust. some witnesses reported the plane rocking back and forth when the plane attempted to land. we're getting e-mails from people at the airport taking off a little before, might have been a smaller plane, or coincidental. interesting, claudia, that we're getting information from

citizens who were there on the ground when this tragedy occurred. have you heard anything about any wind gusts or anything peculiar like that there? >> reporter: in fact, just the opposite, greta. we're hearing from authorities that the weather here was really great weather, very, you know, light winds, maybe nine miles per hour. certainly no fog. it's a bright, sunny day. the sun has yet to go down from where i can see out the window, and just great flying conditions as far as we've been told. so whether wind was a factor, of course, that remains to be scene, but -- seen, but in terms of visibility, it seems like visibility would be very, very good, several miles, at least. we haven't heard anything about the wind. we certainly haven't heard that from any other planes taking off or arriving today. >> how about the conditions of the pilots, the front of the congrescockpit looks relatively undamaged at least from aerial video. frohave you heard anything about the pilots and co pilots, where they are?

i imagine they'll be debriefed, too? have they pretty much made it through this incident without harm? >> reporter: well, we don't know that. we don't know that for a fact. again, we have two dead, a number of critical injuries. whether the pilots are among them, that number, we don't know. hopefully we'll find out in just a few minutes at this next press conference, but authorities have been releasing what information they can. they remind us all this is a very fluid situation. of course, we hear that during these breaking news events, that the numbers can change. again, where the pilots are, if investigators have had a chance to speak to them, if they're lying in a hospital bed, we just don't know at this time. >> well, it's certainly, you know, ten people in critical condition and two obviously dead, a very tragic situation for families tonight. claudia, thank you. on the phone now is denny cox, retired airline captain, who has experience flying boeing

777 aircraft. denny, thank you for joining us. is there anything as you look at this debris scene and with your experience in the cockpit of a triple 7, what are your thoughts? >> well, it looks to me after they showed the picture of the overrun and that rock burm just beyond the end of the runway that at least a part of the aircraft struck that before it ended up on the runway and slid off to the left side there. whether that was the tail of the aircraft or the landing gear, i don't know, but we did see the landing gear laying on the runway in some of the views, so that's what it looks like. at least part of the aircraft struck well short of the runway. >> would it make a difference in general if the ils is out and you have clear conditions? i assume that's easy -- not easy, but for a trained pilot, a 777 pilot, is it easy to land that plane with the ils out on a

clear day? >> yes. that should be at that level of aviation not a problem. i personally did it many times without an ils. actually, it's better for the pilot because it allows us to practice some of our skills that we don't get to do often. it really isn't a complicated thing, particularly on that airplane. it's stuc such a nice airplane o fly. >> is there any assistance from a computer or anything when you land, or is that totally manually landed? is the pilot totally behind the controls on this landing? >> the pilot should be behind the controls on this type of landing. i heard someone remark earlier that there's a visual approach slope indicator which is a light system where you have a red light on the top and a white light. you are on the visual glide slope for that runway. i do not recall if that particular runway has that, but i would suggest that it probably does because it is san francisco

international. >> what kind of conversation is going on in the cockpit in the last minute before you touch down? >> under normal circumstances, just, you know, finishing the check list and very little verbal conversation as you're in a sterile cockpit situation on short final, so there's very little other than immediate stuff at hand like speed, altitude, that kind of stuff. >> there was a problem, a mechanical problem, or maybe a design flaw with a british airways flight in january of 2008 when it had a runway problem. i mean, it undershot a runway at heathrow. was there ever anything about the triple 7 when you flew it that you were a little bit uneasy about, that you thought it was a little bit sort of a kink in the system that made you feel a little bit unusual? >> not that i ever personally experienced. i remember when that incident happened, and what was pointed out was that there were some kind of moisture crystals in the

fuel system that prevented the engines from spooling up and allowing the pilots to add power so that they could fly themselves out of that predicament. could that have happened in this circumstance? of course it could. it could also be any number of things, but what we have, of course, you've heard the flight data recorder and the voice recorder. once they recover those recorders and are able to get the information from them, plus that united flight 885 that was sitting there waiting to take off, they had a bird's eye view of what happened. there's a lot of information that will be forth coming from hopefully those pilots who watched it happen as well as the pilots that were actually on the aircraft, the asiana aircraft that crash landed. >> the triple 7 that had troubles in london had different engines than this plane does. would that sort of suggest that maybe that's not likely the problem? >> well, i don't know whether it had the same engines or different engines.

there are, i think, three different engine combinations that the triple 7 has, and i don't know, you know, whether they were the same or different. >> it's a great -- the triple 7 is a great plane. it's a great plane as a passenger. how about to fly it? >> it's a grate plane to fly it. >> what a horrible scene. i don't think passengers should be afraid. frankly i felt uneasy in the d c-10, but the triple 7 is a beautiful aircraft. great for passengers. >> yes, it is. >> denny, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. thanks, greta. any time. new information coming to fox bit minute out of san francisco. a news conference is expected any second in which we'll get the latest. we'll take you live when that happens. part of another news conference from just moments ago. >> ladies and gentlemen, we'll get started. i'm doug yakel. i'm the public information officer for the san francisco airport. i'm joined right now by assistant deputy chief dale

karnes from the san francisco fire department and special agent in charge of the fbi, dave johnson. i want to thank you all for coming. it's certainly been a challenging and difficult day at sfo today. i want to start by kind of reconfirming some of the facts and we'll provide some updated information on passenger numbers for you. so again, this morning at 11:27 a.m., we had an incident involving asiana flight 214. this is a flight that originated in shanghai and continued on through seoul airport on its way to san francisco. it's a boeing 777 aircraft, and our manifest counts the number of individuals on board the aircraft, 291 passengers and 16 crew for a total of 307 on board the aircraft. as i mentioned, we do have some updated information on the status of those passengers and crew, and for that i'm going to turn it over to assistant deputy chief dale karnes.

dale? >> good evening. of the 307 souls on board, we had 181 total that were transported to local hospitals. of that 181, 49 were serious and were in the initial victims transported from the scene. an additional 132 were transported later on into the incident after being triaged as they were the more minor to moderate casualties. we've also accounted for 123 people here in the terminals of the airport that were uninjured and have remained in place, and at this time we do have two confirmed doa passengers on the aircraft. >> okay. so those numbers add up to 306. we're still working to confirm the last one. as dale mentioned, we've got 123 individuals uninjured, still on site at the airport being processed as we speak. i'm going to turn it over now to fbi special agent in charge dave

johnson. dave? >> thank you. at this time we continue to work with the ntsb on determining the exact cause of the incident. there is currently and continues to be no indication that terrorism or any criminal act contributed to the incident. we are offering all resources necessary to help with the event. we continue to keep the flight's passengers, crew, and their loved ones in our thoughts. thank you. >> i just want to finish by talking a little bit about the status of the airport as a whole. as i mentioned in the last briefing, we've got a total of four runways at sfo. we've reopened two of those four runways, so we are operating limited arrivals and departures at sfo currently. we would recommend for any passengers that are traveling through sfo to check with their airlines for the status of their flight before coming out to the airport today. thank you very much for coming. our next briefing will be held at 7:30 tonight in the same location. thank you. >> straight ahead, more of our

continuing coverage of the flight 214 crash. we'll be right back right after this break. ♪ [ upbeat ] [ barks ] [ announcer ] all work and no play... will make allie miss her favorite part of the day. [ laughing ] that's why there's beneful baked delights. from crispy crackers to shortbread cookie dog snacks, they're oven-baked to surprise and delight. beneful baked delights: a unique collection of four snacks... to help spark play in your day. my feet and exactly where i needed more support. i had tired, achy feet. until i got my number. my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotics number. now i'm a believer. you'll be a believer, too. learn where to find your number at drscholls.com.

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this is a fox news alert. a live news conference underway at san francisco general hospital where they're treating victims of the triple 7 crash. >> our new hospital, which is being built now, the emergency room will be much larger than it is today. today it has 27 formal beds. the new hospital will have 60 in the emergency room with the ability to surge up to 120, so if something like this were to happen for the new hospital, the physical plant would be even better prepared. the team is prepared. >> if we get new information from the hospital, we'll go to you. in the meantime, former ntsb vice chairman bob francis joins us. thanks for joining us. what's the investigative

process? what happens now? >> ntsb gets there, they get all of the parties who were there and that will be the airline and the koreans and the airport and there are numbers of parties. >> doans have some sort of part in this investigation, or do we do it sort of out of a diplomatic something, you know? >> no. it's the way that it works. the country of registration of the aircraft is by definition a party. >> but they're not lead. they're not going to lead the investigation. >> no, no. they're a party. >> okay. >> the ntsb leads, but you know, the pilots union is a party. the aircraft manufacturer is a party. the engines, if you think that that's a factor. so there are a number of parties. >> tonight if you look at this, what's the key piece? who do you want to talk to for

first? is it the pilots or do you want the voice recorder. if you only have one thing tonight, what would it be? >> recorders, recorders, recorders. >> even if they're at the bottom of the bay, the ntsb will get them. >> yes. absolutely. >> any chance they are -- they're pretty robust. >> they're tough as nails. >> how big are they physically? i don't even know. >> one is about this long and that square. the other is slightly smaller. >> so it's like a laptop, almost. >> yeah. but the really -- the most important is the flight data recorder. >> which will tell you what? >> which tells you what the pilots were doing controlling the airplane, what the power of the engines was, everything internal to the aircraft. >> will they tell you if anything was wrong? are they just telling you what people did? >> they can tell you if something was wrong. >> so if -- >> if an engine wasn't providing as much power as it should have, it will tell you that. >> but if it's not -- will it

tell you if it's not providing enough power because the pilot wasn't goosing it enough or because the engine was failing? >> both of the above. >> so it actually -- it actually tells you and will distinguish, it's that sophisticated. >> absolutely. >> we've had such a great safety records on airplanes. it's tragic. >> one of the things that's the most wonderful about this is here was a major, major accident with 300 people in the aircraft, and as far as we know, so far there are two people. i mean, a big, big accident. >> you look at that charred plane. look at that. >> this is a tribute to a lot of people who have been working over the past 20, 25 years on cabin safety. >> yeah. everyone hates lawyers, i know, but even the lawyers have been fussing about the interior, and they changed the fabric inside as a result of the lawsuits. >> fabric, strength of seats, all kinds of things. >> thank you, sir. always nice to see you. >> you're welcome. we'll have much more on

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this is a fox news alert. we're standing by for another news conference shortly. we're going to bring it to you live. as we await that update, fox correspondents join us with a reaction from asiana airlines. domonic? >> reporter: hey there, greta. it took quite a few hours for asiana to respond, one of the reasons being that the manager was fast asleep. it was 3:30 local time in korea when this happened in san francisco. about 3:30 this afternoon they quickly tweete tweeted. the first one was saying our thoughts and prayers are with all the passengers and the flight crew on the flight.

we're currently investigating. we'll update yo with news as son as possible. they eventually came out with a more fully statement saying 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. asiana airlines will continue, it said, to fully cooperate with the investigate of all associated government agencies and to facilitate the cooperation that has been established and set up an emergency response center at its headquarters. i believe that would be at its headquarters in seoul. it's also concerned about the nationality breakdown and who precisely was on board and what classes. of course, we know there were 291 passengers on board, 91 in business class. you can see one of the big holes burned through the roof of the plane, the top side of the plane. 272 people were in economy, and you can see from -- you see from the pictures, you know, almost half the economy section had the ceiling burned out there.

so that a lot of people would have been affected by smoke inhalation. 61 of the people on board were u.s. citizens. 77 were koreans, 141 were chinese and there was one japanese citizen on board. asiana has 12 of the triple 7s in the fleet, and the fleet has a low record of incidents when it comes to the 777, just five note worthy incidents in the past 20 years. there were two bad ones, 70 passengers in total claimed in both of those. one crashed in bad weather back i think in 2011 as it was coming in or heading toward shanghai airport, greta. there was a second event much earlier before that in '93 where a boeing 737 of asiana crashed in poor weather about four kilometers short of the runway in the southern tip of the korean peninsula. 66 passengers and two crew specifically injured in that

one. so although those are two terrible disasters, it's a low record, a good record for comparison. greta. >> thank you. of course, the fleet can't be that old that they have the planes only in operation, many of them flying commercially since 1995. they're not old aircraft even if they bought one in '95. thank you very much. we'll have more coverage of the san francisco plane crash after this break. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. mmmhmmm...everybody knows that. well, did you know that old macdonald was a really bad speller? your word is...cow. cow. cow. c...o...w... ...e...i...e...i...o. [buzzer]

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[heartbeat, music playing louder] ♪ i'm feeling better since you know me ♪ ♪ i was a lonely soul, but that's the old me... ♪ announcer: this song was created with heartbeats of children in need. find out how it can help frontline health workers bring hope to millions of children at everybeatmatters.org. we have a comergses airline pilot -- commercial airline pilot joining us from san francisco. good evening, sir. >> good evening. >> i know you've flown in and out of the airports in california. there are nightmares, at least we hear, about flying into los angeles when the sun setting over the pacific. is there anything unusual about

flying into san francisco's effort at about 11:37 in the morning in general? >> the only thing unusual about san francisco is it's essentially on the water. the end of the approach of the runway is surrounded by water. that can affect sometimes your perception of how high up you are to the runway. the runway is aided by visual aids such as the lights to tell you if you're high or low. it appears it was probably working although we have reports it may have been out of service as was the glide slope. >> how about inside the aircraft? aren't there things inside the airport or the cockpit in general? i know you haven't flown triple 7s. don't they tell you where you are in terms of altitude? >> yes, there are. the glide slope is presented on the captain's and first officer's instrument panel, but it was out of service.

because the equipment was out of service in daytime visual conditions, you are just fine visually, and the pilots have flown visual approaches repeatedly since the beginning of their training. you really have to use your depth perception and visual accuse to know if you're high or low. >> it seems sort of hard for me to understand. i've flown in planes in alaska. i was with franklin graham on a small plane. when we got too close to a mountain, we heard pull up, pull up, pull up. i would think there would be something more sophisticated in the cockpit of a triple 7 to tell you you're too low as you're landing or something. i realize there has to be a point of reference, a beacon to have contact with, but it's sort of hard to understand that there aren't more sophisticated items in that cockpit. >> well, the cockpit actually does have the sophisticated equipment. it has what's called a radar altmeter which will tell you how far above the ground you are

which aids you in lapping. the threshold of the runway where the striped lines are is normally where an airplane should be, about 50 feet above the ground at that point and on the glide path descending toward a touchdown point. from the debris field, it appears the aircraft, of course, touch down much sooner than that, and from the reports of the passengers regarding the engine spooling up just before impact, it appears the pilots were either attempting to go around or to add additional power to stop their descent. unfortunately, that was too late. >> and of course, by too late the wheels are down, so that creates the drag. once you get down too low, you can't be five feet off the ground when you try to crank it back up, can you? >> yeah. if they want to crank it back up, they would have likely added power and also pulled the nose up of the aircraft. when you pull up the nose of the aircraft, it creates additional drag and it's immediate where it takes a few seconds for the engineses to come up to speed to

generate the thruts. ther.the combination of the twod have brought the tail down earlier. unfortunately because they were so close to the end and so low, it appears from the wreckage that the tail hit first along with the landing gear. >> you know, there are two people who died, and there's ten critical. i mean, it's a terrible tragedy tonight. when you look at that aircraft with that whole top of it charred and burned, it really is extraordinary that more lives weren't lost. at least it seems that way to me. what about to you? >> well, it's extraordinary and it's a tribute to all the flight crews and flight attendants that help get the passengers out safely. i think a lot of us fly so much that some of them don't pay attention to the flight attendants or the safety demonstrations. they're really there for your safety, and in a situation like this, they are your guides out of that airplane, and time is critical. you need to get out as soon as possible. >> what do you say if you're the next plane on the runway like

the united one next to take off? now you've got to talk to your passengers who probably just witnessed this thing and some are pretty rattled. right after a plane crash, what do you say to the passengers as the airport reopens? >> well, the airport was not reopened for several hours. i think the passengers looking out the window could see for themselves. if they didn't see it, they heard it, and likely you just immediately know you're not going to be taking off any time soon. >> it's always stunning to me, the skies are so busy these days. there's so many small planes up there. it's actually quite remarkable how successful the faa has been and the pilots. we haven't had a major crash in years. i mean, this is very unusual. >> yes. the skies are incredibly busy. they're just getting busier. there are so many people involved in the safety, and so many people to be patted on the back. safety is the number one priority. that takes precedence over any

other part of the flight. >> well, it's obviously gotten safer. what do you attribute to the skies being safe? we haven't had any mid air crashes. what do you attribute that to? >> well, safety is established through experience, and unfortunately safety is often a result of learning from experiences such as this. we have better technology now, a lot of information is spread on the internet, and through other channels, and just a group effort. all the accidents in the past have helped us learn and develop new equipment to enhance that safety aspect. >> well, it's a terribly sad night tonight for so many, but you know, as we look at this plane, it's just incredible. thank you very much for joining us. >> absolutely. thank you. earlier tonight we spoke with ntsb chair deborah hersman who is headed out to san francisco right now.

we caught her on a refueling stop midway across the country. >> on the phone, ntsb chair deborah hersman. good evening. i know you got the call a couple hours ago about the crash. tell me exactly what you do as chairman of the ntsb. when you got that call, what did you do? >> we get to the airport right away, and we get on a flight as soon as we can. actually, i'm in transit right now. we dropped into sioux falls to pick up fuel and we're back up in the air. we're heading for san francisco. should arrive there this evening. we've already got some folks on the ground for the ntsb. they work out in california and they're staking out the site for us. >> do you immediately, you yourself, go out to the crash as the chair? you're going to almost reassemble this plane and take it through every sing step of its approach and crash. what do you do when you get there? >> we have an amazing team of experts. all of these individuals really are tops at what they do. we've got people who are specialists in air traffic control and operations and

structures, systems and power plants. they all get to work. they know exactly what needs to be done. they look at the aircraft, try to identify where there are issues. we look at the operations, at the pilots, and we work to do as much as we can as quickly as we can. >> do you quickly interview the pilots, assuming they're in good health, if they're not been severely injured themselves? is that something you would do? is that something that's done today? >> you know, our team really, you know, the first priority is the -- is for the people who are survivors, for them to get treatment and to also be very respectful of any fatalities. so really the first few hours after an accident belong to the first responders. when ntsb gets on the scene, we do our work and of course, witness interviews and interviews with crew are extremely important to us, but we want to make sure at a people get the -- that people get the treatment they need. >> will you actually at some point remove this aircraft and preserve it during the course of your investigation? will it be like in some hangar

so you can constantly revisit it and inspect it? >> absolutely. we always preserve evidence that we might need to go back to. >> and in terms of the flight data recorder, do you know, was that in the back of this plane? i know the back of the plane looks like it ended up in the bay. >> you know, we will be looking at the -- at getting the recorders as quickly as possible. they're very important to us. they're very important to our investigation. >> they could take quite a beating, right, if they're in the water? you'll still in all likelihood be able to recover them and get data? >> well, certainly that's our hope. we know the recorders can be very robust. we identify any investigation for the recorders to help us solve what happened. >> well, i can tell you. it's been very helpful. i've covered these. i've even covered you in all these plane crashes. you guys have always been very thorough and always at the same time very helpful in getting the information out. the american people are always worried because you know, we fly so much. of course, our hearts go out to

the people who have died in the crash and their families. so i just gotta give you a nod. i appreciate the ntsb. >> oh. thanks very much, greta. we appreciate that people allow us to do our jobs and get the information out and cover it well. thanks. >> well, we look forward to a very long, exhaustive investigation and have a safe flight out to san francisco. deborah, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. we'll be right back with more on the crash of asiana flight 214. ready? happy birthday! it's a painting easel! the tide's coming in! this is my favorite one. it's upside down. oh, sorry. (woman vo) it takes him places he's always wanted to go.

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♪ i'll spread my wings and i'll learn how to fly ♪ i'll do what it takes till i touch the sky ♪ ♪ i gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change, and break away ♪ ♪ wanna feel the warm breeze, sleep under a palm tree ♪ ♪ feel the rush of the ocean ♪ ♪ get on board a fast train, travel on a jet plane far away ♪ ♪ and break away ♪ out of the darkness and into the sun ♪ ♪ but i won't forget the place i come from ♪ ♪ i gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change, and break away ♪

we're continuing to monitor all the new information out of san francisco tonight. a news conference is expected very shortly. fox will take you to it live. right now part of another news conference from just moments ago. the fire department on the runway at san francisco international airport spoke about the frantic rescue mission. >> good afternoon. first, let me say that on behalf of the people of san francisco, our thoughts and our prayers are with all of the passengers and the asiana airlines flight 214 from south korea. we're deeply sad denned by this incident, and our hearts and our prayers are with our friends and families of those affected. ladies and gentlemen, this is still a fluid and active scene. not everyone has yet to be

accounted for. our first responders responded immediately to this incident and area hospitals, some nine of them, including san francisco general, are treating those with injuries and we will continue to monitor their conditions. i've just spoken with deborah hersman who is the chair of the national transportation safety board, and she will be flying out here, and they will be investigating this incident. we're also in touch with our fbi agents as well. i have spoken and he is here today, the counsel general from korea, and we have relayed our city's sympathy to the people of the republic of korea. counsel general hahn is here. >> this is a fox news alert. a live update. >> we have two fatalities that are confirmed. quite a number of passengers that are still in critical condition, and if i may first

say thank you to all of the first responders, to the bay area hospitals, to their nurses and doctors and all the emergency personnel. they're working very hard to make sure people are recovering from this. i want to reiterate what john martin has said earlier, too. with the 225 or so first responders, i want to thank them for their fantastic effort. this could have been much worse. based upon the breakdown that the airlines have worked with us, i want to make sure you understand the breakdown by nationality of the passengers on asiana flight 214. there were 77 korean, 141 chinese descent, 61 u.s. citizens, one japanese american, and about 11 others of different ethnicities. that accounts for 291

passengers. i also want to being a knowledge the tremendous -- to acknowledge the tremendous city response that was given not just by the first responders. in addition to their effort, there were korean and chinese interpreters that were dispatched from the city and from various volunteer groups in the community to come to the airport and make sure that translation was provided. our department of public health sent grief counselors in to assist with all the different families and friends that were here. we had paramedics that rode with the injured passengers as they we want on buses -- as they went on buses to the hospitals throughout the bay area. of course, as i said earlier, there were over nine bay area hospitals that attended to injured victims. united airlines which is asiana's star alliance partner, also dispatched their own

employees to assist in all the hospitals. family and friend reunification continues to take place at the international terminal in the red carpet club. this evening we are awaiting around midnight to 1:00 the arrival of the chair of the national transportation safety board who will begin conducting their formal investigation. the site has been secured, and we've all been here. the fire chief, the police chief, john martin, the airport director, my staff and even the coroner for sa san mateocounty. we've been here for all these hours and we'll continue to be here to make sure everything continues to be in order. with that said, i want to reiterate that having visited the site with staff and with police and fire department, it is incredible that we have and very lucky that we have so many

survivors, but there are still many that are critically injured. our prayers and our thoughts continue ta to go out for this. with that, i'd like to have mr. doug yakel from the airport provide you with more details. >> thank you, chief. we're actually going to have chief joann hayes white speak for a moment, please. >> good afternoon, everyone. joanne hayes-white, san francisco fire department. we're happy to inform that the 60 plus that i had talked about as being unaccounted for are all now accounted for. having been on scene for a number of hours just after the crash, i can tell you i am very deeply gratified with the incredible display of team work exhibited not just by our police and fire departments but our brothers and sisters that work in san mateo county that stepped up to assist us. we had both fire emergency and multi-casualty medical emergencies. very difficult scene at first. very well coordinated with the men and women of multiple

departments working hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder with the people of the airport. our mayor has been on scene. not only has our emergency operations center but at the accident scene and having surveyed that area, i would agree with him. we're lucky that there has not been a greater loss of life. my hat is off to the men and women that literally assisted people off the plane, went into the cabin of the plane to do what they could, and that is to protect lives. it was, like i said, an incredible display of team work. our hearts do go out to those that are impacted bydisplay of , our heart goes out to those -- >> monitoring this news conference, more on this special addition of on the record. we are getting new information every minute, stay with us.

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. >> and on the phone is president of the international society of air safety at the office of accident investigations at the faa, frank, nice to have you join us. >> thank you, pleasure to be here. >> frank, tell me where you would start the investigation? >> where would i start it? well, you've got to get the investigation organized, which is ntsb is very good at that. they will break that up into a bunch of groups such as operations and engines and structures and so forth. and each group will start doing their thing and slowly but surely the facts will all come out. may take a week, may take three weeks, may take two months, but they will find the cause. >> does it make it more complicated because it's a international flight with another nation that is a party to the investigation? >> no, not really.

it's still an investigation. and the koreans will be here by tomorrow in not already, and they will assist in it too. >> in terms of the standards for pilots and airplanes, is it an international standard or -- because i think, don't some airlines not have permission landing rights in the country because we have stricter rules and safety consideration consid? i assume that korean airlines has met our standards? >> that is a correct statement, i'm sure they do or they would not be landing there. >> is there anything about the aircraft, i know there was one similar, it was heath row airport, where the plane did not make the run way, much like it appears here, we are not for sure what happened here. different engines, difference time of the year, anything

peculiar about the 777? >> not that i know of. the one in heathrow was a fuel icing problem which they have since resolved. >> every time you resolve something on airplanes it's like you get five years to fix something or ten years or two years, not fixed instantly for every aircraft in the air for that model. >> if something were found tonight or tomorrow morning on this plane and it was dead on the federal aviation administration, they would issue a warning of this in a day or so. when they appear to get dragged out, it's because they have to make sure they are doing the right thing. >> well, that is the thing that bothers me, what seems much more important to me should be done immediately. sometimes for economic reasons and because it happens to infrequently, the decision they have given it great time. i'm taking the last word on that one, frank, thank you for joining us and being with us on the special edition of "on the

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>> and this is a fox news alert. tragic in san francisco when a commercial jet with more than 300 people on board crashes on landing at san francisco international, two are confirmed dead and some taken to the hospital, some critically injured, all passengers are now accounted for. welcome to our special coverage of the crash of asiana airlines, flight 214. i'm rick. >> and he let's get to claudia who has the latest from san francisco. claudia? actually, right now we are going to go ahead and take the ntsb pre presse