Miami, May 4
At least 21 persons were injured after a Boeing 737 charter jet arriving at a naval air station in Florida from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, slid off the runway into a river, authorities said.
All of the 136 passengers and seven crew members had been rescued by early Saturday morning, a Navy spokeswoman said. None of the injuries were life-threatening, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said the plane had never been submerged. Photos showed it floating on the St. Johns River, The New York Times reported.
The accident occurred at about 9.40 pm on Friday as the pilot attempted to land the jet at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville amid thunder and heavy rains. “I think it is a miracle,” Capt Michael P Connor, the commanding officer at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, said at a news conference early on Saturday. “We can be talking about a different story.” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said the White House had called to offer its assistance.
The flight was operated by Miami Air International, a charter company that shuttles military service members from the base in Guantanamo Bay to naval air stations in Jacksonville and Norfolk, Virginia. The flights run every Friday and every other Tuesday, said Susan Brink, a Navy spokeswoman.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to start an inquiry. Boeing said it also was investigating, but did not provide any other details.
Friday night’s accident comes as Boeing has been under intense scrutiny following two deadly crashes of its 737 MAX jet within months of each other: —IANS
Reminiscent of ‘09 Hudson River incident
- The Boeing 737 charter jet that was seen floating on the St Johns River in Florida after crashing, was reminiscent of the January 2009 emergency landing of a now-defunct US Airways jet in New York’s freezing Hudson River
- Images from social media showed rescue teams scurrying over the plane in the St Johns River, similar to the January 15, 2009, emergency landing on the Hudson River
- That time, the US Airways’ Flight 1549 with 155 people on board had suffered a bird strike upon take-off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. It was headed to Charlotte, North Carolina
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2DOhPwF
via Today’s News Headlines
No comments: