A Santa Clara dentist was awarded an undisclosed sum of money after settling with Asiana Airlines after surviving a plane crash.
Dr. Kyung Rhan Rha is the last of dozens of passengers and crew members to settle with the airline. Rha and her daughter were among 307 people abroad Asian Flight 214, which crashed onto the runway at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) four years ago.
The impact killed three of the flight’s passengers and injured nearly 200 others.
“After a long legal battle, we are pleased to say that the parties have been able to reach a confidential settlement,” said Rha’s lawyer, Ronald Goldman.
The crash occurred after the flight’s pilot miscalculated the speed and altitude of the aircraft.
Due to the error, the airplane’s landing gear hit one of SFO’s seawalls, causing the vehicle to crash onto the runway.
Rha and her daughter were both thrown ‘violently’ around the cabin, according to the San Francisco Gate. The publication says that her daughter – who was 14 at the time of the crash – settled with Asiana earlier this year.
Dr. Rha’s lawsuit was initially stalled after she claimed that the injuries she sustained stopped her from being able to grasp the tools she needs to use as a dentist and oral surgeon. Asiana had, for some time, challenged the severity of her injuries.
An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the three pilots on duty in the cockpit ‘bungled’ the landing by, among other things, deactivating the plane’s automatic airspeed control, which caused the aircraft to slow to a near stall.
After hitting the seawall, the back of the plane was ripped off, throwing several passengers and crew members across the runway while the jet spun about before screeching to halt.
Two teenagers were killed in the crash, while another was run over by a fire truck after being covered by flame-retardant foam.
Over 100 individual passengers have reached settlements with Asiana in the years since the accident, with the awards all being undisclosed and confidential
Sources
Asiana crash: 72 passengers settle lawsuits against airline
Asiana crash: Santa Clara dentist fights airline over loss of practice in last unresolved claim
Final victim of Asiana crash reaches settlement with airline
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