UPDATED AT 11:45 am July 16:
Asiana Airlines is now bringing legal action agaist KTVU for the above news clip, that has now been seen by millions of viewers all over the world.
The NTSB in Washington, DC issued the following statement to members of the media late Friday afternoon:
“Earlier today, in response to an inquiry from a media outlet, a summer intern acted outside the scope of his authority when he erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew on the aircraft,” the agency said in a statement.
UPDATED
FROM WIRE REPORTS:
It appears that a San Francisco television news station has been the subject of a racially charged prank while reporting the wrong names of the pilots involved in that horrific Asiana Flight crash earlier this week that claimed the lives of at least two people.
The names the news anchor reported on air include “Ho Lee Fuk,” “Wi Tu Lo,” “Bang Ow” and Captain Som Ting Wong.
This is what the SF Gate reported on Friday afternoon about the situation:
“During the noon newscast Friday, co-anchor Tori Campbell, announced that “KTVU has just learned the names of the four pilots who were on board” Asiana flight 214 when it crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday. She then read from a teleprompter while a TV graphic displayed four fake names that clearly were someone’s idea of a joke. The first name — “Captain Sum Ting Wong” — should have been a give-away that something really was wrong. But Campbell kept reading… “Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, Bang Ding Ow.”
After a break, Campbell made an on-air correction, clarifying that the names were clearly wrong — but that they had confirmed them earlier with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The video has been posted on several major news websites within the past hour and Twitter hash tags are beginning to hit regarding the obvious foul-up.
Below is an official on-air statement from Campbell:
–Randy Economy
[email protected]
LMAO This is a riot!
And I’m your news anchor “Dam Mi Dum”.
Great one!
I love lamp!
If someone can teach a parrot to read, birdbrain Tori Campbell is outta a job. Next up: The sky is falling. . . Does she not process anything she says?
anyone commenting, myself included, is an immature person.
Hey, they let the door wide open – like someone really approved those names and let the tele-prompter disseminate it to their news anchor(s). “Check and double-check” was not applicable here!
Knock it off people. This is a serious subject.
Sincerely,
Mike Hunt
After this how can she ‘deliver’ the news to millions? (hint: Dan Rather left CBS or was forced out after his bogus news about Bush Jr. Texas National Guard issue.
Time to look for a new job…
If the TelePrompTer had said Humpty Dumpty and Honey Boo Boo had seized control of the White House, would Campbell have mindlessly reported that too? She was last pair of station’s eyes to nip this nonsense in the bud.
Great point. Well said.
Randy Economy
Reporter
Los Cerritos Community Newspaper
Surprising how many people didn’t pick up on this obvious prank. Isn’t there someone at the station who enters this info into the tele-prompter? They missed it, someone before them missed it, Tori missed it. I guess it’s true what they say about common sense not being so common.
Getting into murky waters of semantics here but doesn’t KTVU’s assertion that NTSB intern “confirmed” the names suggest that station called with list of names to begin with? Technically, no one can “confirm” that which has never been asked.
This is just way too funny!
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