New Facts Emerge About SFO Plane Crash

More is emerging about the airplane crash at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday which killed two people, and and left more than a hundred injured.

The Asiana Boeing 777, which was carrying 307 passengers, had just flown for 10 hours from Seoul when it slammed into the San Francisco runway, clipped its tail, and burst into flames, at around 11:30 AM local time.

An Asiana chief executive told a news conference in Seoul that the crash was not caused by engine or mechanical problems.

According to a spokesman for Asiana Airlines, the pilot flying Asiana Flight 214 had only had 43 hours of experience flying that particular type of aircraft, and was in fact training to fly the 777 when the crash occurred.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Sunday that the airplane was apparently flying way “below target speed” before it reached the airport, when it reportedly hit the seawall and stalled as the pilot tried to abort the landing.

The entire crash only went on for about 10 seconds.

Two 16-year-old girls were killed in the crash, one of whom it appears was thrown into the runway when the plane's tail broke off, according to a San Mateo County Coroner. South Korea's transport ministry has confirmed that the girls were both Chinese citizens.

After fleeing the plane via the emergency slides, 182 passengers were taken to local hospitals, with only 49 having sustained major injuries, according to airport spokesman Doug Yakel. Another 133 were treated at a triage unit and the rest made it to the terminal safely.

The plane was carrying around 70 students and teachers from China who were headed to summer camps.

The last time a large commercial airline caused fatalities in the U.S. was in February 2009, when 49 were killed near Buffalo, New York on Continental Flight 3407.