Facebook's COO escapes plane crash

Date Posted: 08/07/2013

Facebook Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg was meant to be on the Asiana Airlines plane that crashed in San Francisco but switched flights at the last moment. Ms Sandberg was returning from a business trip to Seoul with her family and other Facebook staff and was booked on Asiana Flight 214, according to sources. The COO revealed the last-minute schedule change on Facebook. “We switched to United so wecould use miles for my family’s tickets,” - Ms Sandberg wrote in a post. “Our flight was scheduled to come in at the same time, but we were early and landed about 20 minutes before the crash.” “Thanks to everyone who is reaching out – and sorry if we worried anyone,” she wrote. “Serious moment to give thanks.” She added that her friend, Samsung executive David Eun, was on the Asiana flight. Mr Eun’s comments and pictures posted to Twitter were picked up by news media in the aftermath of the crash. Asiana Airlines Flight 214 from Seoul crashed on landing at San Francisco International Airport,leaving 182 injured and terrified passengers running for their lives. Two 16 year-old girls died in the crash, named by Chinese state media as Ye Mengyuan and Wang Linjia, students at Jiangshan Middle School in China’s eastern Zhejiang province. Among those on board were 77 Koreans, 141 Chinese, 61 US citizens, and one Japanese national, Asiana said in a statement. [Information Nigeria]