Families of Air Crash Victims Shielded from Media

Written by Crystal Tai

When the families of the Asiana Airlines plane crash victims arrived at the San Francisco International Airport on Monday night, none of the local media was able to get anywhere near them.

The families had been photographed and filmed during their departure from Shanghai. Chinese media coverage of them was spread worldwide. But that kind of media access was prohibited in the United States.

Two shuttle buses brought the families from the airport to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Burlingame. While getting off their buses after 11 pm, the families were shielded by umbrellas.

The hotel was under heavy security. Police cars blocked the entrance. The police stopped everyone attempting to enter the hotel and escorted hotel guests in. All the media reporters were turned away, though some of the media had been alerted that there would be a news briefing at the hotel.

The media reporters gathered at a street corner across from the hotel, hoping someone would come out to make an announcement, but only a security guard came over to provide bottled water for the reporters. He refused to answer questions. 

The reporters waiting there until past midnight were all from well-known media outlets including ABC, NBC and CBS, as well as Chinese newspapers such as the World Journal, and the Sing Tao Daily. Patch was also there.