Investigation Ongoing Into Miami Air Plane That Skidded Off Jacksonville Runway Into St Johns River
JACKSONVILLE (CBSMiami) – From aerials, a Miami Air International charter plane can been seen near the Naval Air Station runway in Jacksonville.
The plane is sitting in the St Johns River after skidding off the running Friday night.
The National Transportation Safety Board is now working to learn how it overran the runway.
"We have a full go to team in process here. That'll be about 16 people and people literally still flying in," Bruce Landsberg with NTSB said.
Shortly after a spokesperson with NTSB talked Saturday morning, crews got ahold of the flight data recorder to help piece together what went wrong.
Over the phone, passenger Cheryl Bormann described a hard landing along with bouncing, screeching, and swerving. She also talked about the conditions when everyone was evacuated.
"We were in water. We couldn't tell where we were, whether it was a river or an ocean. There was rain coming down. There was lightning and thunder. And we stood on that wing for a significant period of time," Bormann said.
It's unclear if weather played a factor. 136 passengers and 7 crew members were on the Boeing 737-800. 21 people were hurt and nobody was seriously injured.
The military-chartered plane had a mix of military and civilians traveling from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Jacksonville.
"I think it's a miracle. It could have ended...we could be talking about a different story," Naval Air Station Captain Michael Conner said.
Miami Air has six Boeing 737s used by federal government agencies and sports teams. The company has roughly 400 employees and 75 pilots.
CBS4 news has reached out to the CEO/President of Miami Air, we are still waiting to hear back.
