Posted on 05/04/2019 5:20:04 AM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com
Edited on 05/04/2019 7:03:41 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
A charter plane carrying 143 people and traveling from Cuba to north Florida ended up in a river at the end of a runway Friday night, though no critical injuries or deaths were reported, officials said.
A Boeing 737 arriving at Naval Air Station Jacksonville from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with 136 passengers and seven aircrew slid off the runway into the St. Johns River, a NAS Jacksonville news release said.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
![](:"https://storage.googleapis.com/afs-prod/media/media:07358b4065be426f930c2ee926d71c70/2000.jpeg"width="500")
Base Commander Captain Mike Connor, Commanding Officer NAS Jacksonville, speaks about a plane crash at a news briefing near the front gate of Naval Air Station (NAS) in Jacksonville, Fla., early Saturday, May 4, 2019. A charter plane with multiple passengers traveling from Cuba to north Florida ended up in a river at the end of a runway Friday night, though no critical injuries or deaths were reported, officials said. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
Base Commander Captain Mike Connor, Commanding Officer NAS Jacksonville, speaks about a plane crash on Friday at a news briefing near the front gate of Naval Air Station (NAS) in Jacksonville, Fla., early Saturday, May 4, 2019. A charter plane with multiple passengers traveling from Cuba to north Florida ended up in a river at the end of a runway Friday night, though no critical injuries or deaths were reported, officials said. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough) 
In this photo released by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, authorities work at the scene of a plane in the water in Jacksonville, Fla., Friday, May 3, 2019. Officials say a charter plane traveling from Cuba to north Florida ended up in a river at the end of a runway. A Naval Air Station Jacksonville news release says a Boeing 737 arriving from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, crashed into the St. Johns River Friday night.
REALLY??!!?? … slid off the runway into the St. Johns River, a NAS Jacksonville news release said.
The safe landing was a miracle, said Capt. Michael Connor, a commanding officer at the station.
‘The pilot was trying to control it’
“The plane ... literally hit the ground and then it bounced. It was clear that the pilot did not have complete control of the plane because it bounced some more, it swerved and tilted left and right,” she said. “The pilot was trying to control it but couldn’t, and then all of a sudden it smashed into something.”
The plane skidded from the runway into the St. Johns River at 9:40 p.m. ET, but did not submerge.
Some oxygen masks deployed, and overhead bins opened up and sent belongings spilling out. Bormann said her identification, cash, credit cards, computers, phone and passport were sent flying to the seats behind her so she could not retrieve them.
The passengers onboard didn’t know what happened, she said. And they didn’t know where they were. For all they knew, Bormann said, they could have been in a river or they could have been in an ocean.
People weren’t screaming, Bormann said, because the flight staff worked quickly to give direction. Everyone on the aircraft helped one another to put on their life vests and then climb out onto the wing, into the water, onto the raft and over to the safety of land.
Soldiers, grandparents and children
The plane was carrying military personnel headed home, on vacation, or to get medical care. It included families, civilians, grandparents and children — all connected to the military.
There were also pets checked in the luggage compartment below. Bormann said they have not been rescued, and they likely didn’t make it. Fire rescue officials used a cable to pull an inflated raft with people to a nearby pier.
Naval Air Station Jacksonville said pets have not been rescued due to safety reasons. “Our hearts and prayers go out to those pet owners during this terrible incident,” it said in a Facebook post.
After the rescue, Bormann said, border control was processing the travelers. But most passengers don’t have the identification that authorities are asking for — those are back on the plane.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/04/us/military-plane-crash-bormann-passenger/index.html
“Crash” my a$$.
Sounds like they landed long and slid into the river. Whoops!
Sliding off the runway is hardly the same as "crashing into Florida river."
It looks like the AP forgot to say "BOOM."
Crash or not, any landing you can walk away from is a good one!
Probably,if intact, as skidded off wet runway
EXPERT SPECULATIONS:
What caused the military plane to skid into the St. Johns River?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvSLKqYOzyI
I live across the river from where the plane came to rest, pretty odd to see a 737 sitting in the water, local news this morning is all over this story.
One contributing factor might be weather, last night about the time the plane landed we had severe storms in the area, wind, lightening and heavy rain..the combination of weather, a lot of water on the runway caused the plane to slide off the end of the runway, other speculation is the landing gear being down caught on the bottom of the river and keep the plane from going out further into deeper water....
A slide off and some damage. Depending on it's age and useful airframe time left that aircraft will probably be repaired and returned to service.
A couple threads from yesterday if anyone cares to scan thru them
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3746781/posts
49 comments
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3746781/posts
15 comments
YEP!
Saw this ‘home-made’ simulation. Little creepy at end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFp5b8vUimE
Grin, yeah. Plane “crashes into river”... Well, technically yes,
************
LOL..... Yep just ran out of runway.
Sounds to me that the pilot brought her in a little too hot and couldn’t get her stopped. I wonder whether this charter pilot was military or Cuban? Thrust reversers would probably have prevented this. Looks like pilot error. Getting this plane “airworthy” again will not be cheap.
Gitmo Plane Crash: Jacksonville Fire Department had trained for the crash the morning before
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/bkkk5m/gitmo_plane_crash_jacksonville_fire_department/
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