( CNN ) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday fined Asiana Airlines $ 500,000 for failing to assist families following the crash of Asiana flight 214 in San Francisco in July . The Korean airline was slow to publicize a phone number for families , took two full days to successfully contact the families of three-quarters of the passengers and did not contact families of several passengers until five days following the crash , authorities said . The half-million-dollar penalty is the first time the DOT has issued a fine under a 1997 law that requires airlines to adopt and adhere to a `` family assistance plan '' for major accidents . Three of the 291 passengers were killed and scores were injured when the Boeing 777 struck the seawall at San Francisco International Airport and tumbled down the runway . `` In the very rare event of a crash , airlines have a responsibility to provide their full support to help passengers and their families by following all the elements of their family assistance plans , '' Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement . `` The last thing families and passengers should have to worry about at such a stressful time is how to get information from their carrier . '' In the DOT order , Asiana said its job was complicated by the limited number of workers at San Francisco 's airport and other circumstances . Injured passengers were sent to 13 different area hospitals , and there was no list prepared at the time to help the airline track passengers . Hospitals also were reluctant to release information to the airline due to privacy laws , the airline said . Asiana released a statement after the DOT fine was announced saying that it `` provided extensive support to the passengers and their families following the accident and will continue to do so . '' Under the Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act of 1997 , foreign air carriers assure the Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board that they will adhere to a `` family assistance plan '' in the event of aircraft accidents resulting in a major loss of life . Among other things , airlines must publicize and staff a toll-free telephone number to take calls from families , notify families as soon as practical and commit sufficient resources to carry out the family assistance plan . According to the DOT , Asiana failed to widely publicize any telephone number for family members of those on board , and the only number generally available to the public that family members could call was Asiana 's toll-free reservations line . Asiana publicized a phone number established by another entity 18 hours and 32 minutes after the crash , the DOT said . Locating this phone number on Asiana 's website required significant effort , the DOT said , and the reservations line did not include a separate menu option for calls related to the crash , requiring callers to navigate through cumbersome automated menus . Asiana also took two days to send a sufficient number of trained personnel to San Francisco , and initially lacked an adequate number of staff able to communicate in the languages spoken by the flight 's passengers , the DOT said . According to the DOT , $ 400,000 of the penalty is due within 30 days . Up to $ 100,000 will be spent on multiple industry-wide conferences and training sessions to provide others with lessons learned from the Asiana crash aftermath .
Farmers Insurance is fined $ 500,000 for inadequate aid to crash victims ' familes . It is the first time the DOT has issued a fine under a ` ` family health plan '' law . Asiana failed to widely publicize any telephone number for its members , the judge said .