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Residents of small boats rushed to the crash site to rescue passengers and crew from the sinking aircraft, an official said.
HONG KONG – When Bill Jaynes realized that the water was at his waist, he knew something was wrong.
Jaynes, a Micronesian journalist, was on board a plane that was to land on Weno, the tiny Pacific island that is part of the Federated States of Micronesia.
"We arrived very low, very low," he said in a Facebook video, describing how the Boeing 737-800 driven by Air Niugini had approached Chuuk International Airport on Friday. , without ending up at the track and in the Chuuk lagoon.
"I thought we had landed until I looked and discovered a hole in the side of the plane and that water was coming in," he said, "and I I thought it was not like that. "
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But suddenly, help arrived – from a flotilla of local boats that rushed to the plane and evacuated the 47 people stuck aboard the plane. Everyone has made it alive. According to officials, seven people were taken to the hospital, including one described as being in critical but stable condition.
"It's surreal," said Jaynes, managing editor of The Kaselehlie Press, a newspaper in Pohnpei, another island in Micronesia.
Jaynes said those on board were able to clear their way through the deep waters until the emergency exit from the flowing plane.
He stated that the flight attendants were screaming and that he had been slightly injured in the head.
"I was really impressed by the locals who immediately started going down in boats," he said in an interview with a Baptist missionary in Chuuk, Matthew Colson, who recorded the Rescue operation and posted his interview with Jaynes on Facebook.
"One would think that they might be afraid to approach a plane that has just crashed."
Colson, who lives in Weno, said residents of the area who rushed to the area were fishermen and construction workers.
"These are people who come here to work or go to the store or bring fish to the market," said Colson. "They just jumped into their boats and started to help."
In a statement, Air Niugini thanked the locals who had rushed using the plane. Although the airline did not provide details of the cause of the accident, it said it received information that "the weather was very bad, with heavy rain and poor visibility at the time. of the incident, "said 35 passengers and 12 crew members on board. the Boeing 737.
It could have been a lot worse. Images posted on social media showed that small boats ran around the crash site, circling the aircraft as it slowly sank into the lagoon, just off the airport. Images posted by passersby two hours after the plane crash showed that it was completely submerged in the water, which can reach 100 feet deep in some places.
The Chuuk Lagoon is a popular diving destination and the site of sunken Japanese ships that were bombed by the US military during the Second World War.
"Chuuk has a lot of outboard motors and boats," said Glenn Harris, aviation safety inspector for the Micronesia Transportation Department. "Everyone came together and rushed into the plane and saved the passengers."
A US Navy underwater construction team working in the area also contributed to the rescue by getting passengers and crew to disembark in an inflatable boat, the 7th Fleet said in a statement.
Harris said early reports suggested that the plane was too low as it was preparing to land and was running out of track.
The US Embassy in Micronesia said it was working to confirm the identity and health and safety of all US passengers on board the flight.
After the accident, all flights entering and exiting the Chuuk International Airport were suspended. While flight services to the island are limited, United Airlines offers a well-known "Island Hopper" flight across the Pacific, connecting Honolulu to Guam, which stops at five different locations, including Chuuk.
Air Niugini is the national carrier of Papua New Guinea. Flight 73 flew from Pohnpei, about 415 miles east, stopping at Chuuk before a regular stop for Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea.
The 13-year-old aircraft wing was reportedly damaged in May when another aircraft traveling at Port Moresby's Jacksons International Airport struck it while it was flying. was parked and unoccupied.
Micronesia, north of Australia and the east of the Philippines, is home to just over 100,000 people. It has close ties with the United States under an agreement known as the free association pact.
The crash will occur less than two months before Papua New Guinea hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, which is expected to attract world leaders as of November 17.
Jaynes, reflecting on his experience, said, "I'm alive and that's a very good thing."
