The news about the crash landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport on July 6 made many people re-think how safe it is to fly.
This is a very serious issue for many kababayans, who have no other alternative to visit the Philippines with the motherland being almost 7,000 miles away from the US West Coast.
Of the 307 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 777 jet, three people died and more than 180 were seriously injured during the crash.
As we reported on Balitang America, 5 Fil-Ams have been confirmed to be among those who miraculously survived, despite sustaining injuries.
Balitang America Senior Correspondent Henni Espinosa spoke with the Fil-Am survivors and their families and shared their stories in the newscast.
38-year-old old Maricel Anino-Knaus and her two sons, 7-year old George, 5-year old Gabriel, who are from Colorado, were in that plane.
According to their relatives from Cebu, Maricel, her husband Carl and her two sons took a vacation in the Philippines for a month. Carl flew back to America a week earlier, while Maricel and the children took the ill-fated Asiana flight.
“Nangangamba kami, tapos napaiyak talaga ako kasi kapatid ko yon,” Maricel’s sister Mary Jane Anino told ABS-CBN. “Tapos hindi talaga namin sukat akalain na ganoon ang pangyayari.”
Maricel’s sister-in-law, Maria Lourdes Anino, said Carl reached out to them after the crash and told them the condition of his family.
“Marami silang sugat, mga bruises, tapos trauma. Grabe daw ang trauma,” Maria Lourdes said.
Maricel’s relatives said that Asiana Airlines needs to be held accountable if it is proven that a jet malfunction or pilot error caused the crash.
“Dapat silang managot kasi hindi nila sinigurado kung ang kanilang sasakyan ay maayos. Maraming pasahero ang nakasakay diyan. Kung napaano, eh di kargo din nila,” Anino said.
The Anino family in Cebu said Maricel’s husband was driving from Colorado to San Francisco to be reunited with his wife and sons.
Espinosa said that media was not allowed within the vicinity of Crown Plaza Hotel, where the Knaus family was staying. But Deputy Consul General Jaimon Ascalon confirmed with an Asiana staff that the Knaus family left for Colorado on Tuesday.
Maria Lourdes said they had to travel by car because the children were too traumatized and scared to fly.
Also in the same flight were Ruben and Belen Vallero, a retired Filipino couple from New Castle, California.
As Espinosa also reported, they took video images of their horrifying experience following the crash.
Ruben told Balitang America that he noticed that plane was tilted up and its engine was on full throttle, just before touchdown. He thought the pilot was going to abort the first attempt and would try landing again.
“But in a second or two, we heard a big explosion at the back. That’s when we realized we were in trouble. All you could hear were people crying and screaming,” he said.
Still safely tucked in their seats, Ruben then told his wife to hunch over to protect herself from falling objects. Some parts of the roof fell on some passengers. The Valleros said two of their bags, which they placed in the compartments above them, dropped on them.
“I didn’t think we were getting out of there alive,” shared Belen.
Smoke started to come out. As it thickened, people started to panic. Hand in hand, with their bags, Ruben and Belen rushed to exit the plane.
“I hung on to him. Then we got out of the plane through the inflatable slides,” said Belen.
The crash left Ruben with two cracked ribs and a lacerated liver, while Belen has bruises all over her back and also sustained liver injuries.
Officials from the Philippine Consulate, headed by Consul Ascalon, visited the couple before they were discharged from Stanford Medical Center on Wednesday.
When asked by Espinosa if they were willing to fly again after this experience, Ruben and Belen said they don’t want to live in fear.
They said they visit the Philippines every two years and would not hesitate to fly again, even if it means flying Asiana.
The couple told Balitang America that Asiana has reached out to them and assured them that all their medical expenses will be covered by the airline.
The Valleros told Espinosa that for now, they are not going to take any legal action against Asiana. They want to know the real reason behind the crash that has devastated so many lives.
We asked our viewers of Balitang America if they still feel safe about flying.
59 percent remain optimistic and said that we have to remember that despite the accident and another crash which happened in Alaska in the same week, flying remains to be the safest mode of transportation.
“Kung oras mo na para kunin ni Lord, oras mo na kahit nasaan ka,” was the common Pinoy response behind the continued the poll results.
Studies and reports show that 2012 was the safest year for flight travel since 1945.
Modern technology, recent upgrades to planes, the use of non-flammable materials, etc. have all helped make air travel safer.
As CNN reported, although there will always be an effort to get to zero accidents, that simply won’t happen with something as complex as aircraft operations. But each year, more aircraft take to the skies, and the chances of something going wrong continue to drop.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
