NTSB Identification: DCA13MA120
Scheduled 14 CFR Part 129: Foreign operation of Asiana Airlines
Accident occurred Saturday, July 06, 2013 in San Francisco, CA
Aircraft: BOEING 777-200ER, registration: HL7742
Injuries: 3 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On July 6, 2013, about 1128 pacific daylight time, Asiana Airlines flight 214, a Boeing 777-200ER, registration HL7742, impacted the sea wall and subsequently the runway during landing on runway 28L at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California. Of the 4 flight crewmembers, 12 flight attendants, and 291 passengers, about 182 were transported to the hospital with injuries and 3 passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The regularly scheduled passenger flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 129 between Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea, and SFO. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
The
National Transportation Safety Board says it has received an
unspecified number of complaints about solicitations since the July 6
accident
Officials are looking into whether some attorneys may
have violated a U.S. law barring uninvited solicitation of air disaster
victims in the first 45 days after an accident in connection with the
crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 in San Francisco.
NTSB
spokesman Keith Holloway said the complaints involved attorney websites
directed at passengers of the flight and reports of attorneys
approaching passengers in person to solicit business. He said the NTSB
reported one firm, Chicago-based Ribbeck Law Chartered, to the Illinois
agency that regulates attorneys for further investigation of its online
communications and in-person meetings with passengers.
"We have
investigated every report of alleged attorney misconduct we have
received, and if the evidence suggests a violation we forwarded it to
the appropriate state ... association for further review,'' Holloway
said, declining to elaborate on exactly why Ribbeck was referred.
So
far, Ribbeck is the only firm the NTSB has referred for further
examination. Holloway declined to name or say how many other law firms
the agency received complaints about.
Ribbeck attorney Monica
Kelly said the firm legally and ethically obtained all its clients
related to the crash and that all initiated contact with the firm, which
she said has represented victims in previous airline accidents. The
firm is investigating what caused the crash on behalf of 83 passengers,
according to a filing in Illinois state court.
"We were invited
by Chinese government officials in China and the United States,
including their local diplomats, to meet their Chinese nationals to
represent them,'' Kelly said in an email to The Associated Press. She
said the firm's representative in Shanghai also was ``contacted by a
group of families affected by this tragedy seeking legal
representation.''
Kelly did not respond to additional messages from the AP requesting comment specifically related to the NTSB's action.
William Wang, Ribbeck's Shanghai-based lawyer, told the AP that he talked to passengers and their families in China.
"I
told them that USA would be the right place to sue instead of China or
Korea. I told them that even the ones who had not been injured could sue
as well, because there could be mental effects,'' Wang said in an
interview. "I gave them the files which had been offered by Ribbeck Law
in USA, and I did the translation.''
At issue is a 1996 federal
law that lays out the responsibilities airline companies and the NTSB
have in assisting victims and their families after an air disaster. The
law was passed after victims' families complained that airline companies
and the government kept them in the dark about the status of their
loved ones for too long after several high-profile disasters.
The
law also addressed rising complaints about unseemly attorney behavior
by barring uninvited solicitations for 30 days. The moratorium was
extended to 45 days in 2000. Lawyers can be punished with a fine of up
to $1,000 for each violation.
It is legal for victims themselves to initiate a consultation, or hire lawyers, during the 45-day period.
"Aviation
accidents are considered especially ripe for voluminous, concerted and
aggressive solicitation'' because of the publicity, the availability of
passenger manifests and the potential for large recoveries, said Brian
Havel, who heads DePaul University's International Aviation Law
Institute.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of
Inspector General has launched solicitation probes previously and
referred cases to federal prosecutors. Two attorneys each paid $5,000 to
settle a case alleging they violated the 45-day rule after Colgan
Flight 3407 crashed in 2009 approaching Buffalo Airport in New York,
killing all 49 people aboard.
Holloway said that NTSB referred
Ribbeck to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary
Commission because the "state could best address this issue."
DOT
inspector general spokesman Dave Wonnenberg said the office doesn't
confirm or deny the existence of investigations. James Grogan, chief
counsel of the Illinois agency, also said his organization neither
confirms nor denies investigations.
Bian Zhouzhou, vice consul
at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, said he agreed to meet with
some of Ribbeck's U.S. lawyers after Wang contacted him and asked for a
meeting. Bian said he didn't facilitate any meetings between passengers
and Ribbeck lawyers. Instead, he said he met briefly three weeks ago
with a few lawyers in the lobby of a hotel near the San Francisco
airport where many Chinese passengers were staying following the
accident.
Bian said the Ribbeck lawyers described their
expertise in air disaster litigation and left him with documents
describing the firm's practice areas. Bian said he put the documents in a
temporary office the consulate had at the hotel.
Our consulate
has the duty to forward information to our citizens who have
difficulties in the United States,'' Bian said. He said he also has met
with at least one other law firm, which he declined to name.
Wang used Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, to discuss the Asiana crash.
"Entrusted
by American lawyers, I request that Asiana Airlines air crash families
contact me,'' Wang wrote in Chinese on the morning of July 11. "This air
crash happened in the United States and involves complicated legal
issues. I request that families act with extra caution in the claims
settlement that will follow. I hope that things will go smoothly for
everyone!''
Wang later posted another message on Sina Weibo
explaining that "lawyers in Chicago who specialize in air crashes''
would be visiting Asiana passengers and their families at a hotel near
the San Francisco airport.
"This is a good opportunity to handle the follow-up from the air crash,'' Wang wrote.
In
an interview, Wang declined to comment on whether his blog posts may
have violated the 45-day rule. However, he said that he believed the
rule unfairly gives airline companies the opportunity to offer
passengers settlements in amounts less than they deserve in return for
the passengers relinquishing their rights to join lawsuits.
He said passengers should have the right to the best possible legal advice before entering into such an agreement.
After
the plane crash happened, if we were to strictly follow the 45-day rule
and wait until the period is over, the rights of the victims and their
families would have long been hurt by some greedy insurance companies,
which could have fooled them into signing settlements,'' said Wang.
"The 45-day rule is actually an unjust one for the victims.''
The NTSB's Holloway would not comment on Wang's communications.
Professor
Richard Zitrin, who teaches legal ethics at the University of
California Hastings College of the Law, said Wang's communications may
be a violation of the moratorium even though they occurred on foreign
soil.
On July 15, nine days after the crash, Ribbeck filed a
petition for discovery in Illinois state court against Boeing. It names
30 of the passengers the firm represents but says it is on behalf of all
83 of its clients. It's not a lawsuit but a mechanism to preserve
evidence in case a lawsuit is filed, and it was the first reported court
action connected to Asiana Flight 214.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com