SF plane crash, blame airline, not first responders. OP/ED.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I am familiar with AF and civilian fire trucks. They are big, equipment laden vehicles that are unwieldy at best and do lack visibility directly in front of the cab. If they ran over the girl it was because they didn't see her. That they did it twice would reinforce my belief in that. They are looking at the big mess before them, and if the girl was in the midst of debris they may simply not have seen her. A smaller person would be harder to see, and we do not know what other vision impairment there was including airborne debris and smoke.

Absolutely correct.  But CFR guys are also trained to be on the lookout for bodies which have been flung from a crash.

[stromboli]

Apparently there may be video evidence of the incident, so any supposition on our part may be thrown out the window because of it. But Thump is right, if they are negligent they should be held accountable.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Apparently there may be video evidence of the incident, so any supposition on our part may be thrown out the window because of it. But Thump is right, if they are negligent they should be held accountable.

Not being on the scene, it's pretty easy for us to ride back-seat-driver, right? I'll be the first to admit that for myself.  

My post above should be read in that light, that no one here knows the actual facts as they unfolded.

[stromboli]

Apparently there may be video evidence of the incident, so any supposition on our part may be thrown out the window because of it. But Thump is right, if they are negligent they should be held accountable.

Not being on the scene, it's pretty easy for us to ride back-seat-driver, right? I'll be the first to admit that for myself.  

My post above should be read in that light, that no one here knows the actual facts as they unfolded.

Right. I've never driven an AF truck personally, though I've been around them. Civilian rigs I have, but not dedicated airport rigs.

[Thumpalumpacus]

They're generally designed nowadays for excellent visibility around the cab: lots of glass, good positioning of driver in front of the turn radius, and that sort of thing.  But theres no getting around the fact that even the lightest of them, with a load-out of 16 tons, is awkward to drive, especially over terrain as opposed to pavement.

In certain rigs -- the P-19 I drove for two years, for instance -- I'd be fairly confident of seeing and avoiding prone victims (assuming visibility was sufficient).  But that too is one of those "you gotta be there" things, because smoke, haze, and terrain can mask a hell of a lot.  Not to mention nerves a-jangling and multitasking (charging the pump, managing radio communications, and so forth.)  It's not so cut-and-dried as I may have made it sound in my initial post, which is why your caveats are welcome.

For what it's worth, civilian rigs are usually better in terms of visibility and such, in my experience.