The news that a plane operated by Korean airline Asiana had skidded off the runway at Hiroshima Airport yesterday has been headline news.
While various rumors are circulating regarding the behavior of the crew and the disappearance of the pilots, this article discusses the sheer panic of passengers on board as the cabin filled with smoke and the emergency chutes failed to deploy. Still, despite the apparent confusion, everyone disembarked the plane safely.
Most mixi netizens are glad that the accident only caused limited damage and a small number of injuries, but others see it as an opportunity for some good, old-fashioned Korea-bashing.
From mixi News:
‘Asiana Accident’ Confusion On Board “Is The Baby OK?” “We’re Going To Die”
On the evening of April 14 there was an incident involving an Asiana aircraft at Hiroshima airport, in which 27 passengers were injured when the plane failed to land correctly. In videos taken by several passengers who left the plane via the emergency evacuation chutes, there are vivid recordings of voices of people shouting “Is the baby OK?” and as well as the voices of those thought to be passengers lashing out at the crew. Passengers conveyed the confusion of the situation, with many saying that they “thought they were going to die”.
One video was taken by a male company employee (29) from Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture after he evacuated the aircraft and was escaping the scene of the incident with his family. The man had been on his way back from a family vacation in Korea. Fire engine sirens are blaring, and the plane itself can be seen in the distance. In the darkness, a woman shouts “Get away from there! Is the baby OK?”
According to the man, around 5 minutes prior to landing, the plane shook violently as it was descending. As the plane came in to land, there was a loud “wham!” noise, and the plane shook from side to side. Sounds of women screaming “Ahhhh!” echoed around the plane. Outside the windows on both sides of the plane flames could be seen. There was a smell of burning and smoke rose from the floor of the plane, reducing visibility. Those on board the plane were immediately thrown into a state of panic.
When the plane came to a halt, crew members attempted to open the central emergency exits on both sides of the plane; however, they would not open. When the man saw the crew members lose their cool, he said he thought that “It’s no use, we’ll probably never be able to get out”, but then he heard the voice of a crew member from the back of the plane call “Please evacuate the aircraft”, and somehow managed to get out of the plane.
The man said: “I was filled with fear that the plane would explode. I rushed to escape, to try to protect my family. At any rate I was panicking.
Another video was taken by a different man (58), with his digital camera as soon as he evacuated the plane. The video is around 20 seconds long. As well as showing the plane tilting over, the emergency services, and the silhouettes of people escaping, there is the high-pitched voice of a woman who seems to be cursing at a crew member.
On April 15, the morning after the accident, there were a series of flight cancellations at Hiroshima Airport due to the closure of the runway. At the 2nd floor flight lobby, passengers due to travel were were cancelling or re-booking their flights.
A woman (29) from Naka Ward in Hiroshima City, who had been aboard the flight at the time of the accident had stayed at a hotel near the airport after receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Mihara after the accident. Looking back on the moments before the accident, she said “There were two sudden ‘thuds’, that sounding like two hard object colliding, and after the first the plane suddenly dropped in altitude”. Following that, smoke started to fill the cabin, and there was panic, with people shouting “Ahhh!” and “Murderers!”, which made the woman hyperventilate. She said: “I was petrified. I’ll never fly again. I want to know the truth as soon as possible”. [Miyashima Shiho, Yazawa Hidenori, Sedani Kensuke, Suganuma Mai].
Comments from mixi:
[NB: mixi comments have no netizen names]
Babies can’t wear seatbelts, so it’s most dangerous for them! Still, it’s really something that even amidst that panic people were still worrying about other people’s babies.
It said in the Yomiuri Shimbun that “The passengers couldn’t see the crew members guiding them, so ultimately the used the escape chute that had opened, and helped each other off the plane” ～ Looks like
they’ve learned nothing since Seweol.
Hmm, so there are still people going to Korea, huh. Anyway, the people who took videos in this situation have got some balls. I mean, these people go to Korea, so they must have balls, right?
At times like this, the true nature of humans emerges.
The crew members shouldn’t be the ones panicking.
What is all this, people taking their family vacations in Korea, flying Asiana…What the hell kind of forfeit game did they lose? Can’t believe there are still people who go to Korea.
Murderers…? Rather than that, I’m shocked at those people who thought ‘Oh, I’ll take a video” in an emergency situation. It’s pretty amazing that they can protect their family and take a video at the same time. Still, glad they’re all safe.
The crew didn’t guide passengers, and the pilot ran away and still hasn’t been found. Everything was textbook Korean culture. Made me think of the Seweol disaster. We need to understand that as a people they’re just like that.
These people who go to Chosen because they like it, and they get caught up in an accident like this aren’t all that different from those people who went to Syria and got murdered by ISIS, are they? What’s so different with what’s happened this time, and people saying back then that they got what was coming to them?
I just don’t get why people would go to Korea for tourism.
I don’t suppose they all thought they were going to die. Some people had the time to take videos, so in fact it’s probably better not to exaggerate the sense of danger.
The Korean pilots went missing…over there, pilots and captains just leg it, don’t they.
Usually we’d say it’s not the passenger’s responsibility, but after that accident that happened with an Asiana plane at San Francisco Airport last year, no one living in Japan would fly with them apart from Zainichi Koreans. Those who chose Asiana are partially responsible for this.
I have no sympathy for idiots who go on holiday to Korea.
It’s so fortunate that there were no deaths. When you look at how the guidance equipment has broken up, it wouldn’t have been strange if this accident had ended up much worse. I wonder if it was just good luck, or maybe the pilot had excellent control of the plane? I pray for a speedy recovery for those who were injured.
Never mind about all this. What’s happened to the pilot?
