Crime & Safety

SFO Plane Crash: Mechanic Witnesses Aftermath of Flight 214 Crash Landing

A smart phone camera helps local resident capture the tragic wreck from Bay Trail near his shop's garage.

Mechanic Savon Sngoeun said he was doing a tune up when he heard the commotion after the 11:27 a.m. Saturday crash of Asiana Flight 214.

Sngoeun's 76 gas station is just a few feet away from the Bay waters separating runway 28L from hotel row on Bayshore Highway. 

He immediately went outside to see what had happened and with his Android smart phone snapped photos of the smoke billowing up into the air clouding the clear blue skyline.

"In the beginning I didn't think it was a big deal because I thought it was something small. I didn't think it was a plane ... it was hard to see," he said pointing across the Bay to the runway where the fuselage remains.

"I didn't hear the boom because I was working, but then I saw the smoke and it got worse. I thought, 'This must be a big thing.' Someone said, 'There's an airplane on fire.' "

The Cambodian citizen said he felt bad for the 307 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 777 that crashed killing two young Chinese girls and injuring 49 passengers and crew members.

The 36-year-old father of three said he had never seen a plane crash before "live."

"I was hoping everybody was OK. It's terrible. You don't see something like that everyday."

Sngoeun has worked at the Bayshore Auto Repair on Bayshore Highway next to the gas station for six years.

"I was just watching it ... I walked to the grass area on the Bay Trail and spent about 10 to 15 minutes taking the photos. It's something I wanted to keep. It's something you don't see every day," said the South San Francisco resident.

"It could have been worse," he noted. "I'm surprised there weren't more fatalities. We were pretty lucky."

Sngoeun didn't want to be photographed or video taped for this story, but he shared with Millbrae Patch one of the images of the crash he captured.


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