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THE CALIFORNIA-BASED TV station KTVU was left red-faced and apologetic after it broadcast fake and racist names for the pilots of the Asiana Airlines Flight which crashed in San Francisco last weekend.
Three people are now confirmed to have died in the crash at the city’s international airport with the pilots actions coming under scrutiny.
But those pilots’ names are not “Sum Ting Wong,” “Wi Tu Lo,” “Ho Lee Fuk,” and “Bang Ding Ow” as KTVU, a Fox affiliate, reported:
The station later broadcast a statement apologising for the error but claimed that the names had been confirmed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the crash.
The NTSB later put out its own statement apologising for the “inaccurate and offensive names that were mistakenly confirmed as those of the pilots of Asiana flight 214″.
The agency blamed a “summer intern” saying that he “acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft”.
“Appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that such a serious error is not repeated,” the NTSB added, saying it never releases or confirms the names of crew members or people involved in accidents.
Meanwhile, officials at San Francisco General Hospital have confirmed that a third girl, reportedly Chinese, has died from injuries sustained in the crash. More than 180 people were injured.
In Seoul, Asiana Airlines earlier identified the pilot flying the Boeing 777 that crashed as Lee Kang-Kuk, 46.
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Oh my good God I did not think there is a worse kind of stupid,did she ever hear of mindfulness !!!
She must have known if she ever heard a swear word in her life!!!
Spud ” play the white man” means be honest. It comes from colonial times when a black man or Asian man were seen as being untrustworthy. A white man was always seen to be reliable and honest.
Probably wasn’t even an intern in fairness. I’ve often heard of companies “blaming an intern” when something big goes wrong. Definitely and oversight and very tasteless, but sounds like there’s rogue interns everywhere judging my corporations and PR mishaps!
I always heard newsreaders say they do not show emotion when reading – that is not their job. Now I believe it – she could not have been dumb enough not to notice.
American newsreaders are not the brightest of folk, despite being hugely well paid and celebrities in their own right. Part of the useless breed of the famous for being famous. Plus, of course, the pilots weren’t American so deserve to be made fun of.
In fairness to the reader, I think she did notice. She was particularly reluctant before saying “Fuk”, and then pronounced it as “fook” to deflect attention.
Yes (just so you know) making up fake Asian-sounding names is generally considered racist. It’s offensive because it’s not genuine wordplay–i.e. it doesn’t pun on real Asian naming conventions, just on how those names sound to Westerners. It’s laughing at people because their language sounds funny to your ears.
Didnt see your comment until I submitted mine :) but yeah,what you said….if it didnt seem funny to her,she could have easily ended up pronouncing it f*ck but she didnt
A stupid and offensive “joke” in a story where people lost their lives. This has been perpetually going around the worlds media to get some quick and cheap “hits”. What passes for “journalism” these days, I don’t know. And finally “de journal” gets wind of it and joins the bandwagon. Hugh you must be really proud of yourself, did you get your comment quota for the day. Brainless!
Ryan, would you like to define the “American” race ? Hispanic ? WASP ? Cherokee ? African-American ? Lakota ? America is a nation not a race. I was taught we are all part of the human race but that was many years ago and well before PC became an industry. Has the human race ceased to exist ? Or was it too simple a concept ?
Joseph, as one who agrees with the ridiculous ubiquity of spurious declarations of “racism”, I feel you may have missed the point. “Racism” is used to define everything these days, and is a much abused phrase which highlights both ignorance and borderline hysteria when used incorrectly. Like you, and I suspect, the guy above, I detest the very lucrative “PC” bandwagon, and all who profit from it. People are people, that is all.
Now, having said all that-painting an entire nation of people (and most nations tend to be made up of mixed demographics anyway, including here) with one brush, is to my mind racism. If I were to say that all Latvians are square headed ex Russian military types who’d have the eye out of your head, and who’d peel an orange in their pocket, all Nigerians are opportunistic and intellectually challenged layabouts, all Romanians are one step removed from road dwelling thieves, and all Irish are alcoholic begrudgers, would you consider that racist? I would. Racism is an equal opportunities phenomenon, you can suffer at the hands of it whether you’re black or white, but most of the sheltered lefties who throw the term about like confetti haven’t a clue what it means.
The headline is indeed a spurious and inaccurate accusation of racism. The prank was hackneyed, silly, and disrespectful to those affected by the tragedy, but it was not racist. It did happen to be bloody hilarious though, albeit accidentally.
The idea that all Americans are fat overweight uneducated and insular layabouts, is to me at least, a perfectly racist opinion.
I bet she owns many leather bound books and her living room smells of rich mahogany…. Unfortunate circumstances but it was so funny. No disrespect to those killed intended.
It’s easy for us to laugh but the ting is, you have to remember that our ears are used to hearin tings pronounced tings – an immediate give-away.
Sure how long was dat Bertie Ahern fella taoiseach?
And sure aren’t Cork people at it all over the place?
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