San Francisco International Airport officials have released preliminary findings from a self-review of the airport's performance in July's Asiana Airlines crash, citing the need for improvement in coordinating emergency responses and providing adequate customer service.
SFO officials shared the findings at an industry event Wednesday at the airport, where Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed while landing on July 6.
Three Chinese girls were killed in the crash and its aftermath while more than 180 other passengers were injured.
The outside agency that prepared the report also discovered several things that SFO could have done better.
The airport gives itself high marks when it comes to strong commitment among first responders.
The reported cited good coordination with local hospitals and quick action to reopen affected runways.
But the report pointed out the lack of a streamline plan from EMS responders that came from two different counties.
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The airport website also proved to be a huge problem. It crashed when 50,000 or so more people tried to access it.
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The report also addressed the issue of hotel price gouging during the disaster.
“We worked though our partnership with our San Francisco travel association to come up with some agreements with local hotels to establish a distress passenger rate to avoid price gouging. That’s it from the customer service side,” airport spokesman Doug Yakel said.
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The draft report also noted the airports emergency alert system failed and needed to be replaced.
It even recommends that SFO officials keep restaurants open 24 hours to accommodate delayed travelers after a disaster.
One thing not mentioned in the self-assessment was the fact that one of those killed in the crash died after accidentally being run over by a first responder.
SFO officials say, that will be addressed by the NTSB when it issues its final report.
San Mateo County prosecutors found no criminal culpability for the department and called the death a tragic accident.
The Asiana crash happened when the Boeing 777 plane struck a seawall while trying to land at the airport, causing the tail section to separate from the rest of the aircraft.
FULL COVERAGE: Flight 214 Crash Landing
