WATCH: Shocking video of the Asiana Flight 214 crash landing
When the Boeing 777 hit the sea wall at SFO, sending it spinning 2,000 feet, Fred Hayes just happened to be plane-spotting

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
On Saturday, just before noon, an Asiana Airlines flight from Seoul hit the sea wall protecting San Francisco International Airport from the surrounding bay. The Korean pilot — trying to land a Boeing 777 for the first time at SFO, manually — had the plane flying too slow and too low. His apparent attempt to abort the landing for another go was too late, and the tail end of the aircraft hit the wall, sending the rest of the plane skidding 2,000 feet along the runway. Two teenage girls died.
As seems to happen these days, somebody captured the crash on video. Self-described "aviation buff" Fred Hayes had his camera in hand in the right place at the right time to catch the Korean jetliner go down — as a woman in the video notes. Hayes immediately sees that the plane is too low and its nose is too high. Then he says "Oh my god" — a lot. Watch above.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
The daily gossip: Man arrested in connection with shooting of Tupac Shakur, an OceanGate movie is in the works, and more
Feature The daily gossip: September 29, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
What to expect from an El Niño winter
The Explainer Things might be different thanks to this well-known weather phenomenon
By Devika Rao Published
-
The week’s best photojournalism
In Pictures A steaming volcano, a giant crater and more
By Anahi Valenzuela Published