A Boeing 777 airplane crashed at San Francisco International Airport Saturday afternoon killing two people on board.

Crashed jetliner on the ground at San Francisco Airport
Crashed jetliner on the ground at San Francisco Airport (KGO TV)
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The tail came apart from Asiana Airlines Flight #214, a Boeing 777 as it landed at around 2:30 p.m. eastern time today, according to KCBS-TV.  The craft flipped upside down, coming to stop on the runway on its back.

San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White confirmed the fatalities and added there are 60 hospitalized. However, that number was changed to just one person unaccounted for by ssistant Deputy Chief Dale Carnes  reports CNN.

KTVU TV reports 49 passengers were seriously injured, 132 received moderate to minor injuries, 123 were not injured and two were killed.

 

NBC News says the flight came in "too short" to make a proper landing and may have hit a sea wall at the beginning of the runway. The glide path, a kind of beam that helps guide pilots, was out of service. The language barrier between the air traffic controllers and the pilots on the Korean airliner may also have been a factor.



Two of four runways at San Francisco Airport are reopened. Flights earlier were diverted to  Oakland,San Jose. Sacramento and Los Angeles.
NBC News reports the plane did not call in any distress calls prior to landing.
CNN reports conditions were clear and calm at the time of landing.
Pieces of the tail on the runway from the Asiana Airlines jetliner that crashed at San Francisco Airport
Pieces of the tail on the runway from the Asiana Airlines jetliner that crashed at San Francisco Airport (KGO TV)
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The flight, carrying 290 passengers and 16 crew members, began in Shanghai, flew to Seoul, South Korea and then onto San Francisco for a 10-12 hour long flight.

Some can passengers were seen in video walking away from the plane; others exited the plane using inflatable slides on the side of the plane

 

"You heard a pop and you immediately saw a large, brief fireball that came from underneath the aircraft," a witness told CNN. "It began to cartwheel." Pictures on Twitter initially showed plumes of black smoke billowing into the air. KTVU reports the plane's roof were charred and ripped off.

Witnesses tell CNN they could see parts falling off the plane as it made its approach.

A search and rescue was being done of San Francisco Bay with boats and helicopters. Among the passengers on the plane are Samsung Executive and former AOL and Google developer David Eun who began to tweet from the crash scene.

  Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg posted that she was supposed to be on the flight but switched to United at the last minute.

Facebook message from COO Sheryl Sandburg
Facebook message from COO Sheryl Sandburg (Facebook)
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            This is a breaking story. Check back for additional details.



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