Accessibility links

Breaking News

Jamaica: Plane Crash-Landed Halfway Down Runway


Jamaican officials say an American Airlines jet that crash-landed in bad weather last month overshot the runway at the international airport in Kingston.

Jamaica's Civil Aviation Authority issued that assessment Wednesday in a report on the December 22 accident. Authorities said the plane's wheels made contact with the runway at about the 1,220 meter mark, then bounced as it tried to stop on the 2,700 meter strip.

The Boeing 737 was traveling at about 300 kilometers per hour when the wheels first made contact with the runway.

The plane was carrying 154 passengers and crew when it landed in torrential rain at Norman Manley International Airport. The plane went through a fence and skidded over a road before coming to rest on a beach. Dozens of people were injured, but there were no fatalities.

The crash-landing caused the fuselage to crack open. A spokesman for the airline says the engines detached from the aircraft on impact. Passengers say baggage fell from overhead compartments and people could smell jet fuel.

The flight originated at Washington's Reagan National Airport and stopped in Miami, Florida before heading to Jamaica.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

XS
SM
MD
LG