An ill-fated landing at a Jamaican airport has been injured dozens of people and left a Boeing 737-800 parked on a Caribbean beach after the plane skidded off a runway on Tuesday evening.
Foreign Affairs said three Canadians were reported to be aboard American Airlines Flight 331, though it is unclear if they were among the injured parties. The High Commission in Kingston was attempting to contact them on Wednesday morning.
The plane attempted to Land at Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport at approximately 10:25 pm, Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz told CTV News Channel.
The impact cracked the plane's fuselage, both engines broke off and crushed the left landing gear of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, said American Airlines spokesperson Tim Smith.
It came to rest between three and five meters from the Caribbean Sea and the passengers Walked across a beach to be evacuated by bus, passenger, Robert Mais told The Gleaner, a Jamaican newspaper.
The plane had left Miami International Airport about 90 minutes before.
Early reports said that the plane carried 148 passengers and six crew members. Vaz, however, told CTV News Channel that Flight 331 carried only 145 passengers.
Vaz said 91 people have sought medical treatment since the ill-fated landing yesterday evening.
Paul Hall, the senior vice-president of airport operations, said four people were seriously injured.
The incident closed the airport in Kingston for the rest of the evening and did not reopen until about 6:30 am on Wednesday morning, said Vaz. They said that authorities hoped To Have the airport fully operational by the midday.
Security Minister Dwight Nelson told Radio Jamaica some 400 passengers waited for their flights to be cleared for takeoff.
New Hampshire resident Pilar Abaurrea said panic ensued once the landing went bad on Tuesday evening.
"All of a sudden, when it hit the ground, the plane was kind of bouncing, someone said the plane was skidding and there was panic," Abaurrea of Keene, New Hampshire, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
The 62-year-old Abaurrea said the flight was very turbulent, to the point where the crew Had to halt beverage service on three occasions. Shortly before landing, the pilot had warned of additional turbulence, she said.
Natalie Morales Hendricks said the plane began Thurs skid upon landing and "Before I knew it, everything was black and we were crashing."
"Everybody's overhead luggage started to fall. Literally, it was like being in a car accident. People were screaming, I was screaming," she told NBC's "Today" show.
"There was smoke and debris everywhere," after the plane halted, she said. "It was a mess." Everybody could smell the jet fuel. "
Smith, the airline spokesperson, said U.S. Investigators will now analyze Whether the plane should have been landing in such bad weather.
"That's obviously one of the things they will look at," he said, adding that other planes landed safely amid heavy rain.
Radio Jamaica reporter Kirk Abrahams told CTV's Canada AM that "Local and international investigations" were underway as of Wednesday morning.
Six U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were headed Thurs Jamaica on Wednesday morning Thurs assist a probe led by the island's government, said spokesperson Keith Holloway.
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