Caribbean Airlines Jet Breaks in Half Upon Landing
Caribbean Airlines flight 523 traveling from New York split in two as it crash-landed in Guyana early Saturday morning.
The Boeing 737 overshot the rainy runway and slid into a chain-link fence, which caused the plane to break in half just short of a deep ravine.
A few dozen people were injured, but miraculously all 163 people on board survived.
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The Caribbean Airlines flight flying from New York landed at Cheddi Jagan International Airport early Saturday morning and according to passenger Geeta Ramsingh, the cheers of fellow riders quickly “turned to screams.”
Ramsingh reported to media sources: "The plane sped up as if attempting to take off again. It is then that I smelled gas in the cabin and people started to shout and holler.”
According to Ramsingh, she suffered some bruising as she jumped onto the airplane’s wing and then the road.
Guyana’s Stabroek Newspaper reports that 41 of the 163 passengers were taken to hospitals but only three were admitted for minor injuries.
"We must be the luckiest country and luckiest set of people in the world to escape so lightly," said Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy.
Cheddi Jagan International Airport was closed temporarily by authorities, delaying dozens of flights and leaving countless stranded.
This is one of the worst airplane crashes in recent Guyanese history. A full investigation has been launched and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to arrive Saturday to head the inspection.
President Bharrat Jagdeo who came to the crash site said, "We are very, very grateful that more people were not injured.”
