Asiana To Sue KTVU Over Name Hoax That “Seriously Damaged” Airline [UPDATE]

Asiana Airlines vs KTVU

Let’s get this out of the way first: crash-landing on a San Francisco runway seriously damaged Asiana Airlines’s reputation.

KTVU, a Bay Area news station, damaged its own reputation by saying the names of Asiana’s pilots were “Captain Sum Ting Wong,” “Wi Tu Lo,” “Ho Lee Fuk,” and “Bang Ding Ow.” If anything, Asiana should be sending KTVU a bouquet for deflecting attention from the real, shitty pilots who flew Flight 214 into the ground.

But Asiana is not thankful. It’s suing. Reports AP:

Asiana has decided to sue KTVU-TV to “strongly respond to its racially discriminatory report” that disparaged Asians, Asiana spokeswoman Lee Hyomin said. She said the airline will likely file suit in U.S. courts.

She said the report seriously damaged Asiana’s reputation. Asiana decided not to sue the NTSB because it said it was the TV station report, not the U.S. federal agency that damaged the airline’s reputation. Lee did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, Asiana is bolstering its pilot training program, which is good. See, these are the type of stories you want Google to push to the top of search results, not frivolous lawsuits.

While it’s at it, it could bolster its logo, too. A lot of times people say a “two-year-old” could have done something, and really, we know that’s a lie because two-year-olds are stupid, but in the case of this MS Paint job, seriously, a two-year-old:

Asiana Airlines logo

(H/T Alicia)

UPDATE, 7/17, 8:30 pm: Asiana will no longer be suing KTVU. Reports Reuters

“Asiana Airlines has decided not to proceed with the case since KTVU has issued a formal apology and in order for us to focus all our efforts on managing the aftermath of the accident,” the South Korean company said in a statement.

    9 Responses to “Asiana To Sue KTVU Over Name Hoax That “Seriously Damaged” Airline [UPDATE]”

    1. brackishwater

      Reminds me of that bit in “Outliers” that talks about how Korean Airlines used to have the world’s worst safety record – I believe it mentioned a specific case where a pilot was clearly messing up the descent, but no-one dared to question him because Confucius. Maybe the same thing happened here?

      Reply
    2. bag-o-dicks

      Not like Asians to be sensitive.

      I just hope their lawyer turns out to be called Wang Ke, or something equally hilarious.

      Reply
      • Jake the Muss!

        I’m not sure BJC has shown much of a sense of humor.

        What I see is endlessly demanding (sorry, ‘predicting’ – lol) apologies, in some cases over things that were *clearly* not intended to be racist (e.g. the “Fright 214″ headline).

        And now it is just bucket loads of dull adolescent snark. First the TV station was being sooooo offensive (even though they clearly simply fell for a prank). Now the airline responds aggressively to the TV station and that’s wrong.

        Whatever happens Antony will criticize. Well unless it has something to do with gays. Then it’s rim job time!

        Reply
        • Chinese Netizen

          The cross to bear when one is young, Western educated, forced to be PC, sympathetic to more issues than one can keep track of and jumping on the BLT&G bandwagon for brownie points.

          Reply

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