Novato Man on Tarmac as Asiana Airlines Plane Crashes

Novato resident Tim Elsmore was on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport when an Asiana Airlines plane crashed during landing Saturday, killing two and injuring more than 60.

Elsmore works for Dolby Laboratories in San Francisco and was scheduled to fly to Seoul on business. His United Airlines plane was taxiing when the pilot announced that their plane was experiencing a mechanical problem and was headed back to the terminal. The plane returned to the gate and all passengers were asked to exit the aircraft.

“We’re walking back into the terminal and that’s when we saw billowing black smoke from behind some buildings in the distance, and we knew it was bad,” Elsmore said. “You could see it was a real crash, and people were assuming there were a lot of fatalities. My wife had been listening to the news and was trying to get a hold of me.”

The Asiana Airlines was landing in the airport on a flight from South Korea and was carrying 303 people. The Boeing 777 reportedly lost its tail, possibly after hitting a seawall as it was landing. A fire also broke out in the cockpit, according to the Huffington Post.

This is Asiana Airlines' third fatal crash in 20 years.

Elsmore said there were initially many false reports, including that the plane had flipped over and that it was a cargo plane. He said the airline-sponsored lounges were closed, forcing stranded passengers to mingle in the terminal and in restaurants. Most were straining to get accurate reports from TVs, laptops or smart phones about the crash. Later he found that the closed lounges were to be used for the families of passengers on the Asiana flight.

Ten passengers were transported to San Francisco General Hospital, all in critical condition. Two of the patients were children, while the other eight were adults, ranging between 20 to 40 years of age, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Many of the patients were Korean-only speakers and translators were brought in to assist doctors.

San Francisco General Hospital set up tents outside its facility Saturday afternoon in anticipation of receiving more patients, including those with minor injuries.

Two other passengers were transported to Stanford Hospital.

-Additional reporting by Brent Ainsworth.