American Airlines Boeing 737-823 plane crash
Kingston, Jamaica
Updated on
The Boeing 737-800 operated by American Airlines operated on a passenger flight from Washington, USA, DC, to Kingston, Jamaica, with an intermediate stop at Miami, USA, Florida. 148 passengers and six crew members were onboard. The plane overshot the runway on landing at Kingston-Norman Manley International Airport. Everybody onboard survived, but the plane sustained substantial damage.
The Boeing 737 was approaching Kingston-Norman Manley International Airport runway 12 in bad weather conditions. Heavy rain prevailed at the moment of the accident, and the pilot even warned the passengers of strong turbulences just before landing. The airplane landed far down the runway threshold: it landed approximately 4,000 feet (1200 meters) down the 8,900 foot (2700 meters) runway, cutting the available landing distance by almost half. The aircraft wasn’t able to brake before the end of the runway, at overshot it. The plane skidded across a road and came to rest on a beach at the edge of the Caribbean Sea.
The plane came to a halt about 10 to 15 feet (3 to 5 meters) from the Sea. The plane's fuselage was cracked, its right engine broke off from the impact and the left main landing gear collapsed.
Passengers and crew managed to escape the plane and were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from broken bones to back pain. Most of the injuries were cuts and bruises, and none were life threatening. However, four people were seriously hurt.
