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Volunteers Help Rescue 47 From Lagoon After Plane Misses Runway in Micronesia Their Plane Was Set to Land. The Water Rushed In. Then, the Boats Came.
(about 1 hour later)
HONG KONG — A commercial jet landed short of a runway on a tiny island in the Pacific on Friday morning and ended up in a lagoon, where small boats rushed to rescue the passengers and crew. HONG KONG — When Bill Jaynes realized the water was up to his waist, he knew something was wrong.
All on board were able to safely evacuate, the airline, Air Niugini, said in a statement. The plane was carrying 47 passengers and crew. Mr. Jaynes, a Micronesian journalist, was aboard a plane set to land on Weno, the tiny Pacific island that is part of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Images and videos posted to social media showed small boats surrounding the Boeing 737-800 aircraft as it sank in the Chuuk Lagoon, just off the airport on the island of Weno, which is part of the Federated States of Micronesia. “We came in low, we came in very low,” he said in a Facebook video, describing how the Boeing 737-800 flown by Air Niugini approached Chuuk International Airport on Friday morning, but ended up short of the runway and in the Chuuk lagoon.
Volunteers with boats sped to the crash site to save passengers from the sinking aircraft, said Glenn Harris, an aviation security inspector for Micronesia’s Department of Transportation. “I thought we landed hard until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in,” he said, “and I thought, well, this is not, like, the way it’s supposed to happen.”
“Chuuk has lot of outboard engines and boats out there,” he said. “Everybody came together and rushed to the plane and rescued the passengers.” But then help suddenly arrived — from a flotilla of local boats that rushed to the plane and evacuated all 47 passengers stranded aboard the aircraft. Everyone made it off alive.
A United States Navy underwater construction team that was working in the area helped the local authorities with rescue efforts by shuttling passengers and crew members to shore in an inflatable boat, the Seventh Fleet said in a statement. “It’s just surreal,” said Mr. Jaynes, managing editor of The Kaselehlie Press, a newspaper on Pohnpei, another Micronesian island.
Matthew Colson, a Baptist missionary who lives on Weno, recorded the rescue effort and posted his interview with Mr. Jaynes on Facebook. He said the locals who rushed their boats to the scene were fisherman and construction workers, all locals.
“They’re people that come here to go to work or go to the store or bring fish to the market to sell,” Mr. Colson said. “They just jumped in their boats and started helping.”
In a statement on Facebook, Air Niugini thanked the locals who had rushed to the plane’s aid, and noted that a few passengers were injured in the incident.
But it could have been much worse. Images posted to social media showed the small boats racing to the site of the crash, surrounding the aircraft as it slowly sank in the lagoon, just off the airport. Pictures posted by bystanders two hours after the plane crashed showed it fully submerged in the water, which is up to 100 feet deep in some places.
Chuuk Lagoon is a popular diving destination and the site of sunken Japanese ships that were bombed by the American military during World War II.
“Chuuk has lot of outboard engines and boats out there,” said Glenn Harris, an aviation security inspector for Micronesia’s Department of Transportation. “Everybody came together and rushed to the plane and rescued the passengers.”
A United States Navy underwater construction team that was working in the area also helped in the rescue by shuttling passengers and crew members to shore in an inflatable boat, the Seventh Fleet said in a statement.
Mr. Harris said initial reports suggested the plane was too low as it prepared to land and ended up short of the runway.Mr. Harris said initial reports suggested the plane was too low as it prepared to land and ended up short of the runway.
“We came in low, we came in very low,” said one passenger, Bill Jaynes, according to a report in The Pacific Daily News. “Unfortunately, the flight attendants panicked, and started yelling, and I was trying to be calm and help as best as I could.” Air Niugini is Papua New Guinea’s national carrier. Flight 73 was flying from Pohnpei, about 415 miles to the east, stopping in Chuuk before a scheduled leg to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.
Mr. Jaynes, managing editor of The Kaselehlie Press, a newspaper on Pohnpei, another island in the Federated States of Micronesia, said water inside the plane came up to about his waist before he escaped through an emergency exit. The 13-year-old aircraft reportedly sustained damage to its wing in May, when another aircraft that was taxiing at Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby collided with it while it was parked and unoccupied.
“It’s just surreal,” he said. “I thought we landed hard 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, like, the way it’s supposed to happen.” Mr. Jaynes, reflecting on the experience, said, “I’m alive and that’s an extremely good thing.”
Air Niugini is Papua New Guinea’s national carrier. Flight 73 was flying from Pohnpei, about 415 miles to the east, and was making a stop in Chuuk before a scheduled leg to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.
The 13-year-old aircraft reportedly sustained damage to its wing in May, when another aircraft that was taxiing at Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby collided with the Air Niugini jet, which was parked and unoccupied at the time.
Chuuk Lagoon, where the plane ended up after missing the runway, is a popular diving destination and the site of sunken Japanese ships that were bombed by the American military during World War II.