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Cheryl Bormann met with Don Lemon of CNN while she was waiting with the rest of the passengers rescued as a result of the incident.
Seven crew members and 136 passengers were aboard the plane bound for the Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) naval base and for the Jacksonville Naval Air Station. There were no deaths, but the Jacksonville Fire Department said 21 people had been taken to local hospitals.
Bormann described a scene of fear, confusion and people coming together to help one another.
The plane arrived four hours late at Guantanamo Bay, and those who were coming down warned that the air conditioning was down, she said.
"They were universally miserable, so no one of us was eager to get on the plane," Bormann said. "We still managed."
They went through a storm of thunder and lightning, but the most frightening part occurred when the plane arrived for a landing.
"The pilot was trying to control it"
"The plane literally hit the ground and then it bounced in. It was clear that the pilot did not have total control of the plane because he had bounced again." The pilot was trying to control it but could not, then suddenly it crashed into something. "
The aircraft skidded from the runway into the St. Johns River at 9:40 pm ET, but did not overwhelm.
Oxygen masks were deployed and luggage lockers opened and personal effects spread. Bormann said that her identity papers, cash, credit cards, computers, phone and passport were sent to the seats behind her so that she could not get them back.
The passengers on board did not know what had happened, she said. And they did not know where they were. As far as they know, said Bormann, they could have been in a river or in an ocean.
People were not screaming, said Bormann, because the flight crew worked quickly to give instructions. Everyone aboard the aircraft was helping each other to put on their lifejacket, then to climb into the wing, into the water, onto the raft and towards the ground security.
Soldiers, grandparents and children
The plane was carrying soldiers home, on vacation or for treatment. It included families, civilians, grandparents and children, all linked to the army.
There were also registered animals in the luggage compartment below. Bormann stated that they had not been saved and that they probably had not surrendered. Rescue officers used a cable to pull an inflated raft with people to a nearby pier.
Jacksonville Naval Air Station stated that pets were not saved for security reasons. "Our hearts and prayers are going to the animal owners during this terrible incident," he said in a Facebook message.
After the rescue, Bormann said, border control was treating travelers. But most of the passengers do not have the identifications requested by the authorities – these are back in the plane.
"Everyone has a lot of fun because no one really knows what to do, they will not let us go," Bormann said. "Everyone is curious about their stuff and wants to know what will happen next."
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