School administrators Derek Swales, right, prays next to two empty school desks meant to be used by two Chinese students: Ye Mingyuan and Yuan Linjia, 16, seen top left, who died aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214 as it crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday, at the West Valley Christian School in Los Angeles Thursday, July 11, 2013. The students were planning to attend a summer program at West Valley Christian School in West Hills. The flight originated in Shanghai and stopped over in Seoul before making the nearly 11-hour trip to San Francisco. Two people died and 180 of the 307 passengers were hurt Saturday when the Boeing 777 slammed tail-first into a seawall at the end of the runway. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
School administrators Derek Swales, right, prays next to two empty school desks meant to be used by two Chinese students: Ye Mingyuan and Yuan Linjia, 16, seen top left, who died aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214 as it crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday, at the West Valley Christian School in Los Angeles Thursday, July 11, 2013. The students were planning to attend a summer program at West Valley Christian School in West Hills. The flight originated in Shanghai and stopped over in Seoul before making the nearly 11-hour trip to San Francisco. Two people died and 180 of the 307 passengers were hurt Saturday when the Boeing 777 slammed tail-first into a seawall at the end of the runway. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Asiana flight 214 is dismantled and hauled to a hangar at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 12, 2013. Two people were killed and over 180 injured when the Boeing 777 crashed July 6 as it struck the seawall on the approach to runway 28L, knocking off the plane's tail. (AP Photo/Bay Area News Group, Jane Tyska)
A plane lands at San Francisco International Airport as Asiana flight 214 is dismantled and prepared to be hauled to a hangar in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 12, 2013. Two people were killed and over 180 injured when the Boeing 777 crashed July 6 as it struck the seawall on the approach to runway 28L, knocking off the plane's tail. (AP Photo/Bay Area News Group, Jane Tyska)
In this image from video provided by ABC7 News/KGO-TV a section of the fuselage of Asiana Flight-214 is removed at San Francisco airport early Friday morning July 12, 2013. Workers began clearing the wreckage early Friday. The Asiana flight crashed upon landing Saturday, July 6, at San Francisco International Airport, and two of the 307 passengers aboard were killed. (AP Photo/ABC7 News/KGO-TV)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? One of the two Chinese teenagers killed in the Asiana Airlines disaster was hit by a fire truck while covered with firefighting foam, authorities said Friday, revealing a startling detail that suggested she could have survived the crash only to die in its chaotic aftermath.
However, it wasn't clear whether Ye Meng Yuan, 16, was already dead when the collision occurred or whether the truck killed her moments after Saturday's crash.
"The first truck did go over the victim at least one time. Now the other question is what was the cause of death?" police spokesman Albie Esparza said. "That's what we are trying to determine right now."
The other victim, 16-year-old Wang Linjia, was dead when airport staff found her, authorities said Friday. Her body was near three flight attendants who were flung from the back of the plane when it broke open. They all survived.
San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said the results of his initial inquiry into the deaths would likely be released sometime next week. The coroner said both bodies arrived directly from the airport. He would not comment on the police investigation.
Police said the teenager was on the ground and covered in foam that rescuers had sprayed on the burning wreckage of Flight 214. When the truck moved while battling the flames, rescuers discovered her body in the tire track, Esparza said.
Ye and her friend Wang Linjia, also 16, were memorialized Thursday at the Los Angeles Christian school that was their summer destination. Photos of the girls displayed at the memorial showed the pair with wide grins flashing peace sign. In one photo, they formed their arms into the shape of a heart.
The airliner collided with a rocky seawall just short the runway. Dozens of other passengers were injured, although most suffered only minor injuries.
Nearly a week after the crash, investigators have pieced together an outline of the accident. With each new bit of information, the picture that emerges is of pilots who failed to realize until too late that the aircraft was dangerously low and flying too slow.
Nothing disclosed so far by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators indicates any problems with the Boeing 777's engines, computers or automated systems.
"The first thing that's taught to a pilot is to look at the airspeed indicator. It is the most important instrument in the cockpit," said Lee Collins, a pilot with 29 years and 18,000 hours experience flying a variety of airliners.
Investigators are still trying to nail down hundreds of details about the crash. NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman has cautioned against drawing conclusions from the details released so far. But investigators already know a great deal.
They've listened to the Boeing 777's voice recorder, which captured the last two hours of conversation in the cockpit. They've downloaded its flight data recorder, which captured 1,400 indicators of what was happening on the plane.
The flight's four pilots have been interviewed, as have passengers and dozens of witnesses. Air traffic control recordings and video of the flight's last moments, including the crash itself, have been examined.
According to details released so far, the pilot flying the plane, Lee Gang-kuk, 46, had nearly 10,000 hours of flying experience, but just 35 hours flying a Boeing 777. He had recently completed training that qualified him to fly passengers in the 777 and was about halfway through his post-qualification training.
He was seated in the left cockpit seat. In the co-pilot position was Lee Jeong-Min, an experienced captain who was supervising Lee Gang-kuk's training. It was Lee Gang-kuk's first time landing a 777 in San Francisco.
The weather at the time was nearly perfect, sunny with light winds.
Lee Jeong-Min and a third pilot sitting in a jump seat just behind the main seats, a first officer, were supposed to be monitoring the plane's controls. One of their most important jobs was to closely monitor the plane's two airspeed indicators.
"Airspeed is everything," Collins said. "You have airspeed, you live. You don't, you die."
The NTSB's investigation is being followed closely by pilots in the U.S. and around the world. At one gathering of pilots in Dallas on Wednesday night, the discussion centered on why the Asiana pilots didn't realize their low speed sooner. No one had an answer.
"There are a lot of very experienced airline pilots who are scratching their heads right now," Collins said.
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Associated Press writers Martha Mendoza and Jason Dearen contributed to this report.
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