Boeing skids into Florida river in crash-landing

A Boeing 737 slid off a runway into a river after crash-landing at a Florida naval air station Friday, officials said, with no fatalities reported. The plane carrying 143 people including a crew from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba ended in shallow water next to the air station in Jacksonville, with all passengers safely evacuated, naval authorities said.

“There were 136 passengers and seven aircrews on board and all have been accounted for,” Naval Air Station Jacksonville said in a statement. Twenty-one adults were taken to local hospitals, but none were critically injured, Jacksonville sheriff’s office said on Twitter. Others were treated for minor injuries at the scene. Navy security and emergency response personnel including some 90 firefighters attended the scene.

Images showed the plane lying partially submerged in water after the crash-landing. “All alive and accounted for. Our Fire and Rescue teams are family to all,” Mayor of Jacksonville Lenny Curry tweeted. Teams were working to control jet fuel spilling into the St Johns River, he added.

The “Rotator” flight from the US base in Cuba carries military personnel and family members. Boeing said it was aware of the incident and gathering information. “The plane was not submerged. Every person is alive and accounted for,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter. The sheriff ’s tweet was accompanied by two photographs showing the plane, which bears the logo of Miami Air International, resting in shallow water and fully intact.

The mayor of Jacksonville, Lenny Curry, said on Twitter that US President Donald Trump had called him to offer help.