How they see it
The Asiana Airlines plane crash
1. The Korea Herald
The crash of Asiana Airlines' Boeing 777 jet at San Francisco International Airport is a wake-up call for the Korean aviation industry. In the mid-1990s, Korea's two flag carriers - Asiana and its bigger rival Korean Air - suffered a string of fatal incidents, which led to a downgrading of the nation's aviation safety rating in 1999. The humiliation prompted the Seoul government to undertake a comprehensive reform of its aviation regulatory system … Thanks to these efforts, Korea had no fatal air crashes for 12 years. The long streak was broken when an Asiana freighter crashed in waters off Jejudo Island two years ago … This outstanding track record might have fostered a dangerous sense of complacency. Seoul
2. USA Today
Technology has largely eliminated some of the once-common crash causes. Other hard-won improvements, spurred by safety advocates and deadly accidents, have increased the possibility that people can survive. But while flying has become safer and safer, human beings still fly the planes, and human beings still make mistakes … How could the pilot have flown the jetliner so low and so slow that it hit a sea wall on a routine landing approach on a bright, clear day? Why, with three other pilots on board, did no one react more quickly? The crash of Flight 214 fits a recent pattern, one that suggests minimising human error might be the final frontier in efforts to make an extraordinarily safe activity even safer. McLean, Virginia
3. San Jose Mercury News
If it's true that an emergency vehicle struck one of the victims of the crash of Asiana Flight 214, it will be an unspeakable tragedy - all the more so in light of the heroism shown by many first responders to this disaster, including firefighters, police officers and medical crews who braved fire, smoke and leaking fuel to rescue passengers from the burning Boeing 777. As responders told their stories, it was impossible to be unmoved. Some were choked with emotion two days later, their accounts as inspiring as they were chilling. They undoubtedly saved lives. We can only hope that if the girl was hit by a rescue vehicle, it did not cause her death. If it did, there will be another victim of the crash: the driver will never be the same. San Jose, California