Professor among injured in crash

By Barbara Ortutay
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

An assistant engineering professor and his family are among the
survivors of Singapore Airlines flight SQ006 that crashed in Taipei
before takeoff Tuesday.

Professor Yang Yang, his wife Mei Dan Lee and two-year-old son
Jonathan suffered only minor injuries in the crash that killed at
least 79 people and injured 39 others.

Airline officials say the plane appeared to hit an object on the
runway before breaking apart and bursting into flames.

Yang, who is currently on sabbatical, was returning to Los
Angeles after lecturing at Taiwan’s Industrial Technology
Research Institute. He phoned Leslie Hinman of the Samueli School
of Engineering and Applied Science on Tuesday morning to inform her
about the crash and his condition.

“He was so calm,” Hinman said in a statement. Yang
also told Hinman to “let my students know” he was all
right.

Yang’s return to the United States has been delayed
because he lost his personal belongings, including his passport, in
the crash.

At least 47 Americans were aboard the Boeing 747 on its way from
Taiwan to Los Angeles, including a UC Davis professor who also
survived the crash.

Kevin James Rice is currently recovering from second-degree
burns he received in the crash in a Taipei hospital, UC Davis
officials said.

According to the Associated Press, 55 people left Los Angeles
late Wednesday night to be reunited with survivors or help identify
the bodies of their family and friends. Ten others left a day
earlier aboard a Malaysia Airlines flight.

Officials were still investigating the exact cause of the crash
Wednesday night.

With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.

The National Transportation Safety Board compiled commercial
plane accidents involving weather conditions as a cause/factor from
1983 to 1999. Total persons abroad: 13,985 No injuries: 13,217
Minor injuries: 425 Serious injuries: 165 Fatalities: 278
Statistics for Singapore Airlines Flight SQ006 (as of Wednesday
afternoon) Total persons abroad: 179
No/minor injuries: 61 Serious
injuries: 39 Fatalities: 79 SOURCE:
National Transportation Safety Board, Associated Press Original by
JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by MONICA KWONG/Daily Bruin
Senior Staff