The San Francisco fire battalion chief who voluntarily turned over his helmet camera video to assist in the investigation of how an Asiana Airlines crash survivor was run over by a fire rig violated the department’s privacy rules by filming the scene, officials have concluded.
Battalion Chief Mark Johnson now faces the possibility of being disciplined for recording the events that led up to a firefighter unwittingly running over Ye Meng Yuan, a 16-year-old Chinese schoolgirl.
Johnson’s predicament comes even as Chief Joanne Hayes-White is reconsidering department restrictions on helmet cameras like the one the battalion chief used July 6 at San Francisco International Airport.
“He violated the rules,” department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said. “He is not allowed to use any kind of recording device and not allowed to film anyone without their permission.”
The reason for the ban is to avoid violating the privacy of disaster victims and first responders, Talmadge said.
The crash footage showed that Johnson, who was in charge of the firefighting and rescue effort, was never told that firefighters had found Ye on the ground near the burning plane. At least two firefighters concluded she was dead, a determination that an autopsy showed was incorrect.
Talmadge said it was yet to be determined what – if any – punishment Johnson might face for filming the crash scene.
“That’s news to me. I have no idea of how they came to that decision,” said Tom O’Connor, head of the firefighters union.
Johnson himself was also under the impression that the matter was still under investigation. He declined to comment.
Talmadge said Johnson had violated a 2009 rule barring unauthorized cameras in any “departmental facility.”
“So now they’re saying that the airport is a departmental facility? That the streets of San Francisco are a departmental facility?” O’Connor said.
The department itself used to have a firefighter whose job was to videotape fires and other emergency actions – until budget cuts eliminated the practice.
“That was different,” Talmadge said. “Everyone knew he had a camera and what he was there for.”
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