San Francisco hospital releases last survivor or Asiana jet crash
After 109 days, woman hurt in crash landing in San Francisco heads for rehabilitation
The last patient injured in the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 has been released, 109 days after the Boeing 777 slammed into the runway at San Francisco international airport.
On July 6 the aircraft clipped a sea wall on approach to landing. The tail sheared off and 180 people were injured, about a half a dozen of them critically. Three teenage girls from China who were on their way to a Christian summer camp were killed, one when she was run over by a firefighting vehicle.
At least one of the girls was ejected from the rear of the plane, and investigators said two flight attendants seated in the rear were also ejected through the tail. They survived.
The woman released on Tuesday from San Francisco General Hospital went to a rehabilitation facility, officials said.
She suffered a spinal cord injury that resulted in paralysis, burns over 30 per cent of her body and severe intestinal injuries that prevented her from taking solid food for two months, the hospital said.
"This hospital saved her life," Dr Margaret Knudson said. "She was one of the sickest patients I've ever cared for in my career. Our whole team breathed a big sigh of relief when she left."
The hospital received 53 patients on the day of the crash and ultimately treated 67, among them 31 children.
On Friday, San Mateo district attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said no charges would be filed over the death of Ye Mengyuan , 16, who was alive on the tarmac when she was run over.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the crash.