Asiana Airlines plans to sue television station KTVU-TV for broadcasting fake, racially insensitive names of pilots flying Asiana Airlines Flight 214, which cilpped a seal wall and crashed into a runaway at San Francisco International Airpot on July 6, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Lee Hyomin, a spokeswoman for the South Korean airline, said the broadcast brought serious damage to Asiana’s reputation and that it will sue the Bay area station to “strongly respond to its racially discriminatory report,” the Associated Press reported.
On Friday, July 12, a KTVU news anchor erroneously referred to the pilots by four fake names, which included: “Capt. Sum Ting Wong,” “Wi Tu Lo,” "Ho Lee Fuk," and "Bang Ding Ow." The news segment has since gone viral, drawing much criticism on the Internet.
KTVU-TV has since apologized for the error.
"We made several mistakes when we received this information," KTVU's apology on its website read. "KTVU accepts full responsibility for this mistake."
The National Transportation Safety Board also issued an apology for "inaccurate and offensive names that were mistakenly confirmed as those of the pilots."
The NTSB added that a summer intern “acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft. The NTSB does not release or confirm the names of crew members or people involved in transportation accidents to the media.”
The ill-fated flight killed three and left dozens injured.
IF YOU ARE OF ASIAN DESCENT, ARE YOU OFFENDED BY WHAT OCCURRED ON THE KTVU BROADCAST? DO YOU THINK THE AIRLINE SHOULD SUE THE STATION? OR SHOULD THE NTSB BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ERROR?
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