American Airlines jet breaks up after skidding off runway in Jamaica

Passengers aboard a flight from Miami had the narrowest of escapes last night when their aeroplane skidded off the runway in Jamaica and broke up, ending up less than 3 metres (10ft) from the sea.

More than 150 passengers were aboard American Airlines flight 331 when it overshot while landing during a heavy rainstorm at Norman Manley International Airport.

The plane skidded across a road and halted at the edge of the Caribbean, apparently prevented from going into the water only by the upward slope of the sand. The nose of the jet was less than 3 metres from the water.

Four people were reported to be seriously injured. Some 44 passengers were taken to nearby hospitals with broken bones and back pains, said Daryl Vaz, Jamaica\'s Information Minister. Those getting off the plane were bleeding, mostly from the upper parts of their bodies.

The plane's fuselage was cracked, its right engine broke off from the impact and the left main landing gear collapsed, said an American Airlines spokesman at the company's headquarters in Texas. Most of the injuries were cuts and bruises and none were life threatening, though he had no details, he said.

The Boeing 737-800, which originated at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., had taken off from Miami International Airport at 8.52pm and arrived in Kingston at 10.22pm. It was carrying 148 passengers and a crew of six, most of them Jamaicans coming home for Christmas, said Mr Vaz.

Pilar Abaurrea, one of the passengers, described the chaos as the plane hit the ground with a loud crash and skidded along the runway.

"All of a sudden, when it hit the ground, the plane was kind of bouncing, someone said the plane was skidding and there was panic," said Ms Abaurrea of Keene, New Hampshire.

As the crew opened the emergency exits and people scrambled to get off, 62-year-old Ms Abaurrea and her husband, Gary Wehrwein, noticed a number of people with injuries, including one person who had a cut on his head from falling baggage.

She said she had pain in her neck and back from the impact and her husband had pain in a shoulder from falling luggage, but were otherwise unhurt. "I'm a little bit shook up but OK," she said.

Ms Abaurrea said the flight was very turbulent, with the crew forced to halt trolley service three times before finally giving up. Just before landing, the pilot warned of more turbulence but said it likely wouldn't be much worse than what they had experienced so far, she said.

The airline said that it was too soon to provide details about the extent of the damage to the aircraft.

The airport has not reopened because of concerns that the plane's tail might be hindering visibility, according to Dwight Nelson, Jamaica\'s Security Minister. Some 400 passengers were waiting for their flights to be cleared for takeoff, he said.
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