Dozens hurt as plane misses runway

Dec 23 2009

Dozens of people have been injured after an American Airlines flight from Miami overshot a runway and broke in two during a heavy rainstorm in Kingston, Jamaica.

Flight 331 took off from Miami International Airport at 8.52pm local time (1.52am GMT) on Tuesday and arrived at Norman Manley International Airport at 10.22pm (3.22am GMT). It originated at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC.

Jamaican information minister Daryl Vaz said "the airplane is broken in two" and 29 people were taken to Kingston Public Hospital. He said others were treated at the airport.

The plane normally carries 140 people plus the crew, and American Airlines spokesman Charley Wilson said it was almost full.

Passengers were seen to be bleeding as they got off the plane, mostly from the upper parts of their bodies but officials could not comment on the extent of the injuries.

Passenger Pilar Abaurrea of Keene, New Hampshire, described a chaotic scene as the plane skidded along the runway in heavy rain.

She said: "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."

Kingston policeman Oneil Hinds said officers at the scene reported that the plane ran off the end of the runway.

As the crew opened the emergency exits and people scrambled to get off, 62-year-old Ms Abaurrea said she and her husband Gary Wehrwein noticed a number of people with injuries, including one person who had a cut on his head from falling baggage.

She said the entire flight was very turbulent, with the crew being forced to halt the beverage service three times before finally giving it up. Just before landing the pilot warned of more turbulence.