All passengers reportedly rescued after 737-800 settles in the sea and then sinks

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A Papua New Guinean plane has sunk in a lagoon after overshooting the runway in the Federated States of Micronesia.

All passengers were reportedly rescued safely from Air Niugini’s partially submerged Boeing 737-800, after local fishers took their boats out to the crash site almost immediately.

Locals reported broken bones are among the passenger injuries after the flight came in “very low” for its landing, and ended up in the water.

Flight 73 flies between Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia and Port Moresby, stopping in Chuuk State.

makereta komai (@burebasgal) No casualties. 35 passengers of #AirNiugini flight to #FSM that crashed into the sea in Chuuk have been evacuated to safety and taken to hospital. The flight was landing. pic.twitter.com/5nTOQZpin8

Videos posted to social media show dozens of people in boats around the wreckage.

Various reports said there had been up to 57 people on board, including 11 crew and either 36 or 46 passengers.

Air Niugini is PNG’s national airline. The plane is believed to be a 13-year-old aircraft previously operated by Jet Airways and Air India Express, and was involved in a collision at Port Moresby in May.

It was stationary at the Jacksons international airport when a cargo plane clipped its wing while turning, according to PNG’s Accident Investigation Commission.

Deni ToKunai (@Tavurvur) BREAKING: The Air Niugini plane which has landed in the ocean appears to be Flight PX073 which is scheduled to fly Pohnpei - Chuuk - Port Moresby. Photos show small boats effecting rescue @PXPNG #PNG pic.twitter.com/xPNsau2jZH

Matthew Colson, a Baptist missionary on the island, said it had been raining but was not windy when the plane landed. Colson, who has lived on the island for most of his life and runs a radio station, spoke with residents and officials in the aftermath.

Passengers included a small number of locals alongside predominately US and Australian passengers, he said.

The plane crashed into the water near a market where fishers had come in to sell their catch. “They just went straight out there and started hauling people to shore,” Colson said.

Air Niugini had only recently begun flying that route with the larger Boeing planes, Colson said.

“United is mostly the only airline that comes out here, and it’s been that way for years … There are flights every day but this has never happened before. Mainly because this route is considered one of United’s hardest routes for the 737, so they … send their best pilots out here for the island hopper.”

Colson also interviewed one of the passengers, Bill Jaynes, a journalist based in Pohnpei.

“It was surreal,” Jayne said in a video posted to Facebook. “I thought we [just] landed hard until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in, and thought, ‘This is not the way it’s supposed to happen.’”

“We came in low, very low. Unfortunately the flight attendants panicked and started yelling. I was trying to be calm and help as much as I could.”

Jayne said he wasn’t seriously hurt but there were some “pretty severe injuries” among other passengers.

“I was really impressed with the locals who immediately started coming out in boats. One might think they’d be afraid to approach a plane that just crashed … [but] they were awesome.”

Colson told Guardian Australia his understanding was there were some broken limbs and head injuries among passengers, who were not braced for impact.

John Merelli, an employee at the High Tide hotel, a short distance from the end of the runway, said he had heard the plane coming in but thought it was just a normal landing.

“Then I went back to my workplace and somebody told me, and I looked from the rooftop and the plane was starting to go underwater,” he told Guardian Australia.

“It was sinking,” he said. “It’s underwater now.

“The plane crashed and in around five minutes the rescuers were there, they were ordinary people, because there are plenty of boats around the shore. The officials were about 10 minutes.”

Another employee said the runway was known to be very short.

Ethan Klapper (@ethanklapper) Reports of an Air Niugini 737 overrunning the runway in Chuuk, Micronesia (TKK). That's a 6,013-foot runway, which is on the shorter side for an airport with airline service. https://t.co/DKY11XENhV I flew into this airport in July, you can see how hard the braking is on landing. pic.twitter.com/1odaL4z8gy