San Francisco Bay Area TV station KTVU made national headlines for their Asiana Airlines coverage, but it wasn’t the kind of attention they were looking for.
On Friday, the Oakland-based FOX affiliate erroneously identified four pilots aboard the aircraft that crashed at San Francisco International Airport last week. The phonetic hoax included names such as “Wi Tu Lo” and “Bang Ding Ow.”
The names may never have made it on air had it not been for confirmation by an intern with the National Transportation Saftey Board. The agency later said the intern acted “beyond the scope of his authority,” adding that the NTSB does not release the names of pilots, crew or passengers associated with aviation incidents.
The incident on KTVU, for which the station has apologized numerous times, will likely go down as just another gaffe broadcast over the San Francisco television airwaves. The Desk has compiled five legendary local broadcast moments from the Bay Area:
5. Ken Bastida kills his co-anchor
Ken Bastida’s opening remarks about his co-anchor (Dana King, who is a female) provides a good lesson in how not to deliver a broadcast.
4. Dan Noyes does not want to be touched
KGO-TV investigative reporter Dan Noyes interrupts a Laguna Honda Hospital conference, then gets aggravated when a would-be source repeatedly pats him on the shoulder.
3. KRON reports on “Dumpster Muffin
The “top story” on Channel 4’s 6:30 p.m. newscast is an interview with Berkeley activist and tree-sitter “Dumpster Muffin.” The interview was part of KRON-TV’s ongoing coverage of a tree crisis on the campus of U.C. Berkeley. Also, Dumpster Muffin.
2. “The whistles go whooooooo!”
The best expert KRON-TV could find on car whistles was a local man who goes by the name “Bubb Rubb.”
1. KTVU accidentally reports erroneous Asiana pilot names
Really, it’s hard to top this.
