Firefighter May Face Charges In Asiana Crash Run-over Death, DA Says

Oct. 4, 2013
Decision will focus on whether the firefighter broke any laws or if the death of the passenger was a tragic accident.

Oct. 02--REDWOOD CITY -- Prosecutors expect to decide within two weeks whether a firefighter will face charges for running over and killing a survivor of the Asiana Airlines crash at San Francisco International Airport, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney.

The decision on the case, which was submitted Friday, will focus on whether the firefighter broke any laws or if the death of 16-year-old Chinese student Ye Mengyuan was a tragic accident, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Tuesday. He said he hadn't yet seen the case and had no initial leanings on if charges were likely.

Ye survived the July 6 crash of flight 214, but was run over and killed by a fire fighting truck rushing to the chaotic scene. She was lying on the tarmac covered in fire fighting foam before being hit, said San Francisco police, who investigated the death.

Ye was one of three girls to die in the crash that remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. In the wake of the incident investigators said the Boeing 777 came in too low and slow before it slammed into the sea wall that abuts runway 28 Left.

Reports have previously said Ye was run over by a firefighter who just happened to be away from the fire station before the crash. Veteran firefighter Elyse Duckett, 49, was out buying food for the fire house when the plane hit the ground.

After Duckett returned to find everyone gone from the station she got in a reserve engine and raced to the scene. As she did so she struck Ye, who had been taken out of the burning jet and laid on the tarmac, reports said.

Contact Joshua Melvin at 650-348-4335. Follow him at Twitter.com/melvinreport.com.

Copyright 2013 - San Mateo County Times, Calif.