Everybody on plane survives crash landing in Pacific lagoon
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — All 47 passengers and crew survived a plane’s crash landing in a Pacific lagoon Friday morning, wading through waist-deep water to the emergency exits and escaping on local boats that came to the rescue in the Micronesia archipelago.
Seven people were taken to a hospital, according to officials, including one described as being in critical but stable condition.
Passenger Bill Jaynes, who said he suffered a minor head injury, noted that the Air Niugini plane came in very low as it was attempting to land at the Chuuk Island airport.
“I thought we landed hard,” he said. “Until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in. And I thought, ‘Well, this is not the way it’s supposed to happen.’
“I was really impressed with the locals who immediately started coming out in boats,” he said in an interview with a missionary in Chuuk, Matthew Colson, that was posted online and shared with the AP. “One would think that they might be afraid to approach a plane that’s just crashed.”
The U.S. Navy said sailors working nearby on improving a wharf also helped in the rescue by using an inflatable boat to shuttle people ashore before the plane sank in about 100 feet of water.
The airline said in a statement that the 35 passengers and 12 crew members aboard the Boeing 737 were all able to safely evacuate. It said the weather was poor at the time, with heavy rain and reduced visibility.
Air Niugini, the national airline of Papua New Guinea, has operated since 1973.