live in san francisco, lisa amin gulezian, "abc 7 news." >> dan: wayne freedman is live at sfo where he is talking with stranded passengers and there were many of them. >> reporter: there were. we are in the park south of sfo. it's surreal looking across the bay at the wreckage the asiana flight 214. it was a tragedy for those two people killed and others aboard. it's been a major inconvenience for anyone else using the airport today. here is video and passengers at the international terminal waiting on flights had not yet arrived yet. many. larger flights were diverted to seattle. they begin arriving two or three hours. here are two passengers. they were bewildered and in limbo. let's begin with a gentleman from germany. >> they decided to put me on british airways flight. i'm not sure. >> so you were supposed to be out of here by now, right? >> by now, yes. >> when do you think you will get out of here? >> i have no idea. >> sat for two hours on the phone. >> are you going to get home tonight? >> no, not until monday. >> two more days? >> two more days. >> who is paying for the air

. >> dan: lisa amin gulezian has the story. >> there are still a lot of people being treated here at san francisco general hospital tonight. i spoke with one man who was one of the last people to leave the plane but one of the first to be released from the hospital. benjamin le sr789 was flying home to san francisco after a business trip to korea. his wife was supposed to be back on the flight but came back to san francisco early. they had no idea the plane was about to crash and had no warning or time to react. >> it was on the runway and i thought maybe we go back up and flying again. we went back down again. as i say, i was in my chair. >> people were screaming. >> reporter: that was his wife who was not on plane but exactly what they went through. they let passengers near a hole around the wing. the father was released from the hospital after bees treated for a bruised cartilage. everyone got out of the plane before the fire started and plane did not flip over as some witnesses report. back here live, he says the experience will not stop him from flying again. >> dan: some of the

. >> lisa amin gulezian is live in burlingame with that part of the story. reporter: i'm off airport boulevard to my left is san francisco international airport and to me right the embassy suites and a lot of the rooms face the bay and the airport. anthony castro's room is on the eighth floor. he is an aviation enthusiast and likes to watch the pleaps come go. this morning he was on his balcony and saw the flight approach and then crash. he noticed it looked strange. the nose was too high and then it came down. >> the tail definitely partially intact as it came up to the top of the spin, but you could then see parts of the dispail the tail -- vertical fin fly off like it was slingshot. >> anthony took a lot of photos right after the crash. all of that thick black smoke was after the initial fire ball erupted when the plane landed. and anthony then dialed 9-1-1. back here live now. i want to mention i have seen a lot of activity on the runways. i can see several planes lining up and they're taking off. lisa amin gulezian, abc7 news. >> abc7 news market matthe

lisa amin gulezian has the story. >> reporter: it comes down to money. two years ago these officers and all the city employees gave up 10% of their salaries. now, the cops want it back and if they don't get it, they will leave the city and head over to santa clara to find work. >> no one denies they are understaffed but now they have lost their fight for higher rages, union president expect a mass exodus of officers. >> about 70 officers resigning each year. we are still on par to make those numbers this year. i think this ruling is going to accelerate those numbers. >> homicide detective is ready to walk. >> it's an emotional decision. it's not about the people i work with. it comes down to is this. >> they agreed to a pay cut to help balance the budget but the city says the san jose can't afford to increase the entire department's pay by 10%. >> we have capacity to give 2% across the board and 4% retention bonus. >> city sent this email to the union asking them they come back to the bargaining table. they refuse insisting the san jose has the money and

lisa amin gulezian. >> reporter: the two pilots had never flown together. it was the instructor's first time teaching. >> the enters into an airport doesn't hold a lot of meaning to me. >> reporter: former american airlines pilot says both pilots were qualified to be in that cockpit and he said both should have been doing the same thing, looking at instruments, levels, speeds and most importantly, out the window. should it have been an easy day to land a plane? >> my professional experience, it should have been. >> reporter: it was a clear day with very little wind. this is what a landing at sfo on a similar day would have looked like. the ntsb is trying to piece together why it turned deadly. >> were they communicating with each other? >> reporter: some observers wonder if cultural differences played a role in the crash. aviation consultants say that airlines have been working on the issue of assertiveness since the '90s. >> they teach the crew members to be assertive and say i don't think that's right. it does you no good to defer if they fly you into the

lisa amin gulezian has the story. o years ago theseomes down officers and all the city employees gave up 10% of their salaries. now, the cops want it back and if they don't get it, they will leave the city and head over to santa clara to find work. >> no one denies they are understaffed but now they have lost their fight for higher rages, union president expect a mass exodus of officers. >> about 70 officers resigning each year. we are still on par to make those numbers this year. i think this ruling is going to accelerate those numbers. >> homicide detective is ready to walk. >> it's an emotional decision. it's not about the people i work with. it comes down to is this. >> they agreed to a pay cut to help balance the budget but the city says the san jose can't afford to increase the entire department's pay by 10%. >> we have capacity to give 2% across the board and 4% retention bonus. >> city sent this email to the union asking them they come back to the bargaining table. they refuse insisting the san jose has the mo

lisa amin gulezian has the story. >> reporter: it comes down to money. two years ago these officers and all the city employees gave up 10% of their salaries. now, the cops want it back and if they don't get it, they will le cityhe city and head over to santa clara to find work. >> no one denies they are understaffed but now they have lost their fight for higher rages, union president expect a mass exodus of officers. >> about 70 officers resigning each year. we are still on par to make those numbers this year. i think this ruling is going to accelerate those numbers. >> homicide detective is ready to walk. >> it's anonal emotional decision. it's not about the people i work with. it comes down to is this. >> they agreed to a pay cut to help balance the budget but the city says the san jose can't afford to increase the entiredepartment's department's pay by 10%. >> we have capacity to give 2% across the board and 4% retention bonus. >> city sent this email to the union asking them they come back to the bargaining table. they refuse insisting the san jose h

lisa amin gulezian. >> reporter: the two pilots had never flown together. it was the instructor's first time teaching. >> the enters into an airport doesn't hold a lot of meaning to me. >> reporter: former american airlines pilot says both pilots were qualified to be in that cockpit and he said both should have been doing the same thing, looking at instruments, levels, speeds and most importantly, out the window. should it have been an easy day to land a plane? >> my professional experience, it should have been. >> reporter: it was a clear day with very little wind. this is what a landing at sfo on a similar day would have looked like. the ntsb is trying to piece together why it turned deadly. >> were they communicating with each other? >> reporter: some observers wonder if cultural differences played a role in the crash. aviation consultants say that airlines have been working on the issue of assertiveness since the '90s. >> they teach the crew members to be assertive and say i don't think that's right. it does you no good to defer if they fly you into the

lisa amin gulezian. >> reporter: the two pilots had never flown together. it was the instructor's first time teaching. >> the enters into an airport doesn't hold a lot of meaning to me. >> reporter: former american airlines pilot says both pilots were qualified to be in that cockpit and he said both should have been doing the same thing, looking at instruments, levels, speeds and most importantly, out the window. should it have been an easy day to land a plane? >> my professional experience, it should have been. >> reporter: it was a clear day with very little wind. this is what a landing at sfo on a similar day would have looked like. the ntsb is trying to piece together why it turned deadly. >> were they communicating with each other? >> reporter: some observers wonder if cultural differences played a role in the crash. aviation consultants say that airlines have been working on the issue of assertiveness since the '90s. >> they teach the crew members to be assertive and say i don't think that's right. it does you no good to defer if they fly you into the

lisa amin gulezian has been out watching this from a distance. lisa, what can you tell us right now? reporter: to my left is sfo and to me right is the embassy suites and you can see a lot of rooms face the bay and the airport. i spoke with one man who was here on vacation and calls himself an aviation enthusiast who was looking out his window, watching the planes come and go, when he saw this. >> i saw immediate fire ball come out from underneath the aircraft. wasn't sustained, just a quick plume fire ball and just immediately started seeing white smoke. the aircraft was coming along. i kind of call it cartwheeling but it came up at an angle where the nose started to -- the rear end of the aircraft started to pitch up. the nose pitched down and looked like the wing coming off -- looked like it was coming off the aircraft. so you saw the entire aircraft pitch up. >> back here live now. you're looking at planes that are on the runway. we have seen a lot of activity. we have seen more planes leaving the airport than landing but again, there is acti

lisa amin gulezian is live in burlingame with some hotel guests had a very clear picture of what happened. reporter: that is very true. a lot of people watched the crash from their hotel rooms or while they walked along the trail, all because they're so close to sfo, it's right over there. and here are some photos taken by one witness who saw the flight come down. you can see a lot of thick dark smoke. witnesses told me they heard -- the plane. >> all of a sudden we saw the plane land and the tail end of it went down, and all of a sudden we saw smoke, and we thought the plane cracked in half. >> of the 291 passengers, two are confirm dead. among the injured, 49 have critical to serious. 123 people were not injured and actually able to self-evacuate ask then were taken to a safety zone at the airport. >> one person is missing. that's down from 60 some odd we heard a little while ago. one person is missing and authorities are trying to locate that person. >> the flight originated in shanghai, china, and had a stopover in seoul, south korea. >> and asiana airline officials say 149 chinese na