Rescue leaders at SFO crash lacked training
Three Fire Department commanders who directed firefighting and rescue efforts after the crash of an Asiana Airlines jetliner at San Francisco International Airport in July had never taken a training course required of rank-and-file first responders at aircraft disasters, The Chronicle has learned.The S.F. Fire Department's reliance on commanders who had not undergone the basic air disaster training has come under scrutiny because of an incident during the Asiana crash response in which an airport fire rig ran over and killed a survivor who had been left on the ground near the burning fuselage.
Firefighters who operate the foam-spraying rigs must undergo the disaster training, which includes instruction in maneuvering the bulky, poor-visibility rigs, some of which are 10 feet wide and 45 feet long. The Fire Department does not use the rigs on city streets[...]
[Sixteen -year-old Ye Meng Yuan]Ye, the crash survivor who was crushed by an airport fire rig, ended up on the ground near the plane's left wing and was covered with flame-retardant foam before she was run over.
[T]he field commanders were Battalion Chief Mark Johnson, who is normally stationed in the Bayview district, and Assistant Chief Tom Siragusa, who was overseeing all operations in the southern half of the city the day of the crash.
They had assumed command at the scene from Capt. Anthony Robinson, who is based at the airport and was in charge for the first several minutes after the Boeing 777 crashed.
None of the three commanders had taken the training, including Robinson, who had been out on medical leave for several months before being assigned to the airport a month before the crash, fire officials say.
Johnson was the commander directing the foam-spraying rigs' movements as the fuselage burned, while Siragusa was in charge of the overall response. Footage from Johnson's helmet camera, reviewed by The Chronicle, clearly shows he made a series of decisions without being accompanied by any firefighters certified in airport disaster response[...]
The training typically involves four days of classroom instruction about types of aircraft used in domestic and international fleets, and exercises intended to teach firefighters how to maneuver around a crash site without injuring others or damaging evidence.
Firefighters also are instructed to mark any area where there are victims - living or dead - or potentially hazardous debris[...]
Ye had been sitting in the back of the plane, near the other two teenage girls from China who died in the crash. It has never been clear how Ye ended up on the ground near the aircraft's left wing.
Two firefighters in a foam-spraying rig had spotted her there, however, lying in the fetal position, and alerted other firefighters who were on foot.
Sources familiar with the investigation have said at least one firefighter on the ground, Lt. Christine Emmons, determined that Ye was dead. The San Mateo County coroner later concluded that, at the time, the girl was alive.
Covered in foam
Neither Emmons nor any other firefighter told Johnson about the discovery, footage from the battalion chief's helmet camera shows. Ye gradually became covered in foam, and Johnson eventually directed a fire rig into the area where she lay.
The rig, which unlike most at the airport was not equipped with heat sensors that might have detected an obscured body, ran over Ye, killing her.
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