Asiana Airlines fined $500,000 for failing to help families after July crash

CNN) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday fined Asiana Airlines $500,000 for failing to assist families following the crash of Asiana flight 214 in San Francisco in July.
The Korean airline was slow to publicize a phone number for families, took two full days to successfully contact the families of three-quarters of the passengers and did not contact families of several passengers until five days following the crash, authorities said.
The half-million-dollar penalty is the first time the DOT has issued a fine under a 1997 law that requires airlines to adopt and adhere to a "family assistance plan" for major accidents.
Three of the 291 passengers were killed and scores were injured when the Boeing 777 struck the seawall at San Francisco International Airport and tumbled down the runway.

[size=11px][color=rgb(255, 255, 255)]$500K fine for Asiana Airlines[/color][/size][size=14px]"In the very rare event of a crash, airlines have a responsibility to provide their full support to help passengers and their families by following all the elements of their family assistance plans," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. "The last thing families and passengers should have to worry about at such a stressful time is how to get information from their carrier."[/size]

[size=11px][/color][color=rgb(255, 255, 255)]Report: Teen dead before she was hit[/color][/size][size=14px]In the DOT order, Asiana said its job was complicated by the limited number of workers at San Francisco's airport and other circumstances. Injured passengers were sent to 13 different area hospitals, and there was no list prepared at the time to help the airline track passengers.[/size]

[size=11px][/color][color=rgb(255, 255, 255)]How firetrucks hit Asiana victim[/color][/size][size=14px]Hospitals also were reluctant to release information to the airline due to privacy laws, the airline said.[/size]
[size=14px]Asiana released a statement after the DOT fine was announced saying that it "provided extensive support to the passengers and their families following the accident and will continue to do so."[/size]