Air Niugini plane overshoots runway and sinks in sea lagoon
MICRONESIA A Papua New Guinean plane has sunk in a lagoon after overshooting the runway in the Federated States of Micronesia.
All passengers were reportedly rescued safely from Air Niugini’s partially submerged Boeing 737800, after local fishers took their boats out to the crash site almost immediately. Locals reported broken bones are among the passenger injuries after the flight came in “very low” for its landing, and ended up in the water. Flight 73 flies between Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia and Port Moresby, stopping in Chuuk State. Various reports said there had been up to 57 people on board, including 11 crew and either 36 or 46 passengers. Air Niugini is PNG’s national airline. The plane is believed to be a 13yearold aircraft previously operated by Jet Airways and Air India Express, and was involved in a collision at Port Moresby in May. It was stationary at the Jacksons international airport when a cargo plane clipped its wing while turning, according to PNG’s Accident Investigation Commission. Matthew Colson, a Baptist missionary on the island, said it had been raining but was not windy when the plane lan ded. Colson, who has lived on the island for most of his life and runs a radio station, spoke with residents and officials in the aftermath. Passengers included a small number of locals alongside predominately US and Australian passengers, he said.
The plane crashed into the water near a market where fishers had come in to sell their catch. “They just went straight out there and started hauling people to shore,” Colson said. Air Niugini had only recently begun flying that route with the larger Boeing planes, Colson said. “United is mostly the only airline that comes out here, and it’s been that way for years … There are flights every day but this has never happened before. Mainly because this route is considered one of United’s hardest routes for the 737, so they … send their best pilots out here for the island hopper.” Colson also interviewed one of the passengers, Bill Jaynes, a journalist based in Pohnpei.
“It was surreal,” Jayne said in a video posted to Facebook. “I thought we landed hard until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in, and thought, ‘This is not the way it’s supposed to happen.”
(The Guardian)