An American Airlines jet overshot the runway at a Jamaican airport and ended up in a mangled mess near a beach, but all 154 passengers and crew survived with just 40 mainly minor injuries, officials said.
Flight AA 331 from Miami arrived in heavy rain at Kingston airport late Tuesday and passengers had just applauded what appeared to be a safe landing, reports said.
But the Boeing 737 jet ploughed through the perimeter fence at Norman Manley International Airport skidded across a road and ended up on a beachfront. The airport was immediately closed and all other flights diverted.
Information Minister Daryl Vaz told the Jamaica Observer newspaper that most of the 40 injured passengers were taken to Kingston Public Hospital and that there were no reports of fatalities.
“Preliminary reports indicate there are no serious injuries,” American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said in a recorded statement.
The flight had originated at Washington’s Reagan National Airport and had stopped at Miami, the airline told AFP.
The Boeing 737 aircraft was badly damaged in the crash just after 10:00pm (0300 GMT Wednesday).
One of the jet’s engines broke off and slides were deployed at emergency exits for passengers to escape the wreck.
The head of TV Jamaica, Milton Walker, told CNN television that a local official confirmed four persons had serious injuries, but that most other injuries were minor.
A passenger told Walker the plane landed normally and that passengers applauded, but that it failed to come to a stop.
“Then there was a loud bang,” Walker said. “That’s when they (the passengers) knew something was wrong, when oxygen masks deployed and also they noticed the structure of the fuselage started to crumble.
“My information is that it’s broken into three pieces,” he said.
The airline would not speculate as to any possible cause of the incident, Smith said, adding that no other details could be confirmed.
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