Boeing 737-80, chartered by the US military, equipped with 136 passengers, was arriving from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba when it slid into the St. Johns River, Florida. On Friday night, the plane lost its control and at the end of the 9000- foot runway it slipped into the river at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
The flight also had 7 crew members inside who flew from Guantanamo Bay to Jacksonville, Florida.
Authorities said a search investigation has taken place to know what caused the Boeing jetliner with 143 people on board to slide into the river. So far, the incident had injured a total of 22 people with no casualties reported. The shallow river, as being assumed, had saved the flight from drastic consequences, which otherwise would have cost lives of the passengers. Capt. Michael Connor, commanding officer at the Jacksonville station, told news conference that the list of injured also consists a three- month- old who were admitted in the hospital for observation.
The investigating authorities, followed by a brief investigation have reported that none of the injured passengers have experienced any life-threatening injuries. The local sheriff’s office also said that all the 22 injured people were taken to the hospital and has recovered the primary shock and is in good condition.
On Saturday, one day after the accident has taken place, Twitter showcased NTSB investigator Dan Boggs holding an orange flight data recorder recovered from the aircraft. It is expected that the box would open up and answer some of the lingering questions in the next stages of the investigation.
Reports from the 16- member investigating team have said that the plane was scheduled to land at about 9.40pm local time. It is being assumed that bad weather played an important role to cause the accident. Friday night witnessed tremendous thunder and lightning which is why the plane slid off the runway and came to rest in the shallow water of the river, authorities and passengers said.
Capt Michael Connor, commanding officer at the Jacksonville station, has said that the professionalism of the people who helped passengers come out of the plane were outstanding and on time. It would have happened a complete different worse story if rescuers didn’t play their roles there. “It is a miracle,” said the officer. When asked about passenger details, he mentioned that active-duty military members, civilian government employees and their dependents were on the flight, travelling to Florida.
The airport authorities have refused to comment anything about the incident in the news conference; while investigators said they are about to do rounds of the questioning session with the crew on Sunday. The cockpit voice recorder is expected to throw some light on the case but it is in located at the tail of the plane and submerged underwater. It is impossible to take out until the whole plane is lifted out of the water. Being‘perishable evidence,’ officials are extra careful when it came to recovering data from the submerged plane.
