Posted on 07/30/2011 5:56:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A packed Caribbean Airlines jet carrying 163 people crashed and broke in two on Saturday as it landed in Guyana at night, injuring dozens of passengers but killing no one.
The Boeing 737-800 overshot the runway and burst through a perimeter fence after arriving at Georgetown's Cheddi Jagan airport just past midnight from New York. The front of the plane snapped off and it stopped meters from a jungle ravine.
No fire appears to have broken out on the jet.
"It's an absolute miracle what happened here in Georgetown," said Caribbean Airlines chairman George Nicholas, who visited the crash site.
Passengers screamed when the plane lost control and many fled down emergency inflatable slides when it finally came to a stop, a local newspaper reported.
"It was terror," a woman passenger whose husband opened the exit door told the newspaper Kaieteur News. "I was praying to Jesus."
Flight BW 523 was carrying 157 passengers and six crew. The Trinidad and Tobago-based Caribbean Airlines said it did not know the cause of the accident. Investigators from the United States and Guyana were sent to retrieve the black box.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that 12 Canadians were on the flight, and one was slightly injured.
Trinidad and Tobago's transport minister said four people were hospitalized with serious injuries. One passenger suffered a broken leg, an airline spokeswoman said, and others reported neck and back injuries.
"We are very, very thankful and grateful that there are no deaths," Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo said at the airport.
A photo published by local newspaper Stabroek News showed a Caribbean Airlines plane with the half its fuselage broken off and resting in thick undergrowth.
(Excerpt) Read more at trust.org ...
As a frequent rider on these birds, I am heartened that these events are survivable.
However, 163 on board? Could that have contributed? The most I thought was 135 or so.
The NextGen series of 737s (like this one) can be configured to 215 seats.
Okay, 215 is for the 737-900 ER. For the -800 it’s 184.
I bet an Airbus would’ve broken up into at least 3 pieces ;-)
Humor aside, a miracle indeed
Wake me up with a hang-over, on a 737 or hand me a 1911, and I'm ready to do what needs to be done in mere seconds.
Glocks and Airbus? Ya got a book I can study?
/johnny
Check out the 737 Hawaii flight where a large chunk of the cabin went away because of maintenance issues.
The AC landed safely anyway. One hostess was lost, but that was it on loss of life.
Maintenance issues and pilot error, and the 737 still brought (most) everybody home alive. Good engineering was involved.
/johnny
There was a similar incident in Tampa airport several years ago. A plane enroute to Detroit had just backed away from the passenger terminal, and as it was preparing for take-off, one of the engines produced a split second flame out the back of it. All the exit doors were opened at the same time, before the crew even had time to calm everyone down.
On of the Fox News anchorettes called it a "jumbo jet" just before the break to a commercial. I didn't see the story, because I changed the channel, so I wasn't aware of how mistaken the anchorette was.
Imagine sitting in rows 9, 10, 11, or 12
At least they didn’t have to worry about how to open the emergency exits! ;^(
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