The two teen girls were close friends, each looking forward to a summer trip to California to improve their English. Ye Mengyuan excelled at the piano, just as she did in her academics. Wang Linjia enjoyed calligraphy and, according to local media reports, her work at the school's TV and radio stations.

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 had started in Shanghai, China, where the two girls boarded. Then, with a stop in Seoul, South Korea, the flight headed for San Francisco. The Boeing 777 was seconds from landing Saturday when its rear end struck the edge of the runway at San Francisco International Airport, sending it spinning and erupting in flames.

When medics arrived, they found the bodies of the two girls on the runway, next to the burning wreckage.