'We're trying to keep her alive': 911 calls reveal drama of Asiana crash

[PEMO3 523]

Passengers aboard the airliner that crashed in San Francisco Saturday pleaded for more ambulances to show up and help the wounded, recordings of their 911 calls revealed Wednesday.

"We've been down on the ground, I don't know, 20 minutes, a half-hour," one woman said from the runway. "There are people waiting on the tarmac with critical injuries, head injuries."

"We're almost losing a woman here," she said as a 911 dispatcher tried to reassure her that help was on the way. "We're trying to keep her alive."

From USA News: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/10/19403360-were-trying-to-keep-her-alive-911-calls-reveal-drama-of-asiana-crash#comments

The finger pointing has already started claiming ambulances did not respond fast enough. People not in the emergency services think everything is like in the movies. No response is ever perfect unless it is part of a Hollywood script. Pre-plans are just blueprints. Twenty minutes to the scene is only part of the story. How long were the buses held until granted runway access? Did they have to wait for an airport escort vehicle? We are talking about an active major airport, just because a plane crashed does not mean everything on the ground is at a full stop immediately. It would not make for great headlines if responding apparatus struck an aircraft being re-gated. ICS and calm need to prevail. People don't understand that you also can't follow the movie line "send me everything you've got". There are other calls that need attention beside the airport. Stripping the system is not the answer. A response needs to be coordinated and things like triage, patient count, patient tracking, transport to avoid overloading one ER with everyone and preservation of the "crime scene" all have to be attended to.

[Jybehofd 85]

just wondering what is the average national response time for an ambulance? i know in some areas, 13 minutes is fast. I heard there is a lawsuit against the FDNY because it took an ambulance 8 minutes to get on scene... is it me or are those times good for a response?

[Bnechis 3,961]

Generally accepted standards are 4 minutes for BLS & 8 minutes for ALS 90% of the time.

Airport responses are (as mentioned) a very different animal. Particularly when one considers this was an unexpected crash.

Also airports are often isolated, SF is at the far end of the city and 3 sides are bay,so all ambulances must come from one side and it also means that there are no units stationed and available in 60-75% of the surrounding area (as it has no need).

Look at Westchester COunty, it is very difficult to get to theairport because of limited road network & water

[shipwright 4]

Utube audio of initial dispatch of SFFD to airport for crash:

Calm and professional.

The airport is not actually in the City of San Francisco; it is San Mateo County, in South SF CA.

Abundant video of the crash and emergency response shows immediate ARFF arrival at site.

[gamewell45 258]

It's important to remember that in an emergency situation, minutes seem like hours. The public needs to be reminded of that.

[Medic137 6]

Particularly when one considers this was an unexpected crash.

If we could predict when crashes will occur, the response time would be zero.

[mstrang1 213]

If we could predict when crashes will occur, the response time would be zero.

I think what Bnechis meant is that this wasn't a plane in distress, a situation where units can begin to stage prior to the actual landing.

[dwcfireman 656]

We are talking about an active major airport, just because a plane crashed does not mean everything on the ground is at a full stop immediately.

At Westchester, because the ARFF brigade is also the Operations department, we have the authority to shut down the airport in the even of a crash. If such a disaster happened all ground trffic would stop temporarily and all airborne traffic would be diverted. Once the ARFF trucks are out of the terminal area only then would airlines return to the gates, which is fortunately out of the way for any responding apparatus.

Looking back at some of our smaller crashes (like the Trinidad that overshot RWY 29 and ended up in the ditch by RT120), the airport does stay open and operating, and just the confined area of the incident/accident is closed. This is where the Operations escort will happen. Thankfully, HPN is no that big, and apparati can be escorted quickly.

[Jybehofd 85]

yes but calls at HPN are always late. it seems by the times all the tones drop the aircraft is on the ground and ground ops had deemed it safe and calls everyone off.

[Bnechis 3,961]

If we could predict when crashes will occur, the response time would be zero.

I think what Bnechis meant is that this wasn't a plane in distress, a situation where units can begin to stage prior to the actual landing.

Thanks mstrang1.

The majority of calls to airports are for standbye for an aircraft in distress. Consider the flight 232 Sioux City. ARFF, EMS were onscene about 30 minutes before the crash occured.

[dwcfireman 656]

yes but calls at HPN are always late. it seems by the times all the tones drop the aircraft is on the ground and ground ops had deemed it safe and calls everyone off.

The calls are never late at HPN. The Class D airspace around HPN is small, and therefore aircraft don't generally talk to the tower until they are within 10 nautical miles of the field. By the time the pilot declares and emergency and the tower relays it to us, we now have 3 minutes to respond and call 60 Control. Once the tones are done and the first few rigs are enroute the aircraft is usually on the ground safely (mind you, the approach speed of jets is 140mph, and larger prop aircraft at 80mph). An entire incident can unfold and wrap up within minutes. And, trust me, I hear everything on OPS 5 from the driver seat of ARPT 11, and I feel better when I hear the cavalry calling enroute knowing that you're all just a few minutes away.

But, getting back to the main discussion....

The majority of calls to airports are for standbye for an aircraft in distress. Consider the flight 232 Sioux City. ARFF, EMS were onscene about 30 minutes before the crash occured.

Bnechis hit the nail on the head. This is what airport personnel strive for when emergencies are going to [possibly] happen. When an aircraft is in distress we always want everyone staged and ready to go for the "what if" moment. But, then again, no one can predict when or what is going to happen. If someone knew before hand that Asiana 214 was slam into the seawall, then 100 ambulances and 50 fire trucks would have been staged and ready on the adjoining taxiway. Did you know that the Cessna 206 was going to crash and burn behind MBIA 2 years ago? Did you know the Piper was going to run out of fuel and crash-land in a parking lot on Industrial Drive? It's like predicting when a car accident is going to happen, or when the next working structure fire is going to be. The only thing we can do is train for the worst and hope for the best.