Family of Teen Run Over at Asiana Crash Scene Settles

Aug. 08--The parents of a 16-year-old girl run over by San Francisco Fire Department rigs after she was ejected during the 2013 Asiana Airlines crash dismissed their wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

Ye Meng Yuan was thrown from the Boeing 777 as it crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, 2013. She wound up on the ground, where she was sprayed with flame-retardant foam and then run over by two Fire Department rigs -- one of which had earlier been directed around her when she was still visible.

Her parents, Gan Ye and Xiao Yun Zheng of China, had accused rescue crews of leaving her unconscious and in harm's way near the burning plane. But on Friday, the couple abruptly dropped their suit against San Francisco.

An attorney for Ye's family, Gretchen Nelson, said the parties had reached "a confidential settlement on mutually agreeable terms," while declining to elaborate. But Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera, said San Francisco did not enter into a confidential deal -- and cannot do so as a government entity.

In a statement, Herrera said city officials were "grateful for a dismissal that will spare everyone involved the added heartache and costs of litigation, which we believed from the beginning to be without legal merit."

While expressing sympathy for Ye's family, Herrera said the dropping of the suit vindicated the efforts of firefighters during the chaotic aftermath of the crash.

"With thousands of gallons of venting jet fuel threatening unimaginable calamity, our firefighters initiated a daring interior search-and-rescue that within minutes extricated trapped passengers, and moved them safely to medical triage," Herrera said. "In the face of great danger to their own lives, our emergency responders showed heroism and selflessness that day. They deserve our honor and gratitude."

Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White agreed, saying, "We must not lose sight of the valiant work of all first responders that resulted in the saving of hundreds of lives."

Nelson said she took "strong exception" to assertions that the suit's dismissal "in any way vindicates certain personnel in the department for what happened to their daughter."

Nelson is also representing the family in a lawsuit against Asiana Airlines, which is based in South Korea. Court records show the airline has settled the claims of 148 plaintiffs who filed suit in the U.S. after the crash, while the claims of 149 others are pending.

Two other Chinese citizens died when the jet came up short of the runway, struck a seawall and burst into flames.

The family of Ye Meng Yuan said rescue workers did not notify commanders of her location, take her pulse, check her breathing or take other measures that prudent first responders would have taken. As a result, the suit claimed, the city put Ye at risk of "grave harm" and violated her constitutional rights to life and due process under the law.

Ye wound up on the ground near the plane's left wing and was run over by two fire trucks. The San Mateo County coroner's office concluded after an autopsy that Ye died when her head was struck by one of the fire rigs. Footage from a fire commander's helmet camera indicated it was the second rig.

The Fire Department questioned the coroner's conclusion. The city cited findings by the National Transportation Safety Board that Ye was not wearing her seat belt when the plane crashed, and had injuries consistent with being thrown from the craft, to assert that the teenager was dead before the first rig struck her.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee

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