Plane crashes into lagoon, 47 onboard

Sunday, 28 Sep, 2018 0

All 35 passengers and 12 crew onboard a plane that crashed into a lagoon in Micronesia escaped from the aircraft with only minor injuries.

The Air Niugini plane came down after it overshot the runway at Chuuk International Airport.

Images on social media show the aircraft sitting in shallow water.

Passengers were rescued by local fishermen, who immediately took their boats out to help.

Investigations into the crash are due to begin today. Airport manager Jimmy Emilio told the BBC: "The plane crashed in the lagoon, about 160 yards away from the runway.

"Right now we don’t really know what happened. Investigations will start earliest tomorrow, but [for now], operations are starting again as usual in the airport."

Emilio said all those onboard the Boeing 737-800 aircraft were taken to hospital, but he said they were suffering from only minor injuries. These are believed to include broken bones.

Flight ANG73 had made a stop at Micronesia’s Weno island en route from Pohnpei to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.



 

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Linsey McNeill

Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk



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