SF City Attorney: Asiana Plane Crash Victim Already Dead When Run Over
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - A new report is challenging the conclusions about how a victim of the Asiana Airlines plane crash at San Francisco International Airport died.
The report filed with the National Transportation Safety Board by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera and released Wednesday claims there is evidence that firefighters did not run over and kill a teenage crash victim, and that she was already dead from the crash.
The report acknowledges the city's firefighters ran over 16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan - twice - after she had been ejected from the plane in the crash on July 6. But the city attorney adamantly denies she was still alive at the time of those rollovers.
The report disputes what the San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said previously, that she was alive at the time she received multiple blunt force injuries consistent with being run over by a motor vehicle.
The city attorney report indicated Foucrault found "no dust, dirt, debris, or fire fighting foam in the trachea or lung tissues of the deceased." If she were alive, according to the report, she would have breathed in one or more of those items.
The report also noted that she was ejected from the plane, just like two other passengers who were right next to her; both of whom died.
Wednesday, Foucrault issued a statement to CBS News standing by his original report: ""This is the drama of litigation. It's not surprising that the San Francisco City Attorney is taking this position. My office is independent, I don't have a dog in this fight. My report was true and scientific; I am sure the attorneys for the passenger's family will look at these reports and choose one, and the attorney for the city will choose the other."