I recall briefly reading about these rare fatalities when Asian 214 crash landed last week. It seemed a miracle to me that so few died - so I didn't give it much thought - but the names didn't seem right. Mostly it struck me as unusual they had released anyone's names so quickly - and I wondered when on earth they got the names anyways. My discomfort was valid.
The names were fake and Oakland CA TV Station KTVU 2 got "punked".
Sorry - no sympathy. This is high school grade humor - and should have been caught immediately.