A passenger plane crash-landed in lagoon this morning after overshooting an airport runway on a tiny island in the Pacific.
Local fishing boats rushed to rescue the passengers and crew on the Air Niugini flight following the emergency landing near Chuuk Airport in Federated States of Micronesia.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Photographs and video footage posted on social media showed small local boats surrounding the sinking aircraft as volunteers helped rescue passengers from the water.
The cause of the crash is unclear and an investigation is being launched, according to the Associated Press.
Bill Jaynes, a journalist based in Pohnpei, told the Pacific Daily News: “It was surreal. I thought we [just] landed hard until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in, and thought, ‘This is not the way it’s supposed to happen.’
“We came in low, very low. Unfortunately, the flight attendants panicked and started yelling. I was trying to be calm and help as much as I could.
“I was really impressed with the locals, who immediately started coming out in boats. One might think they’d be afraid to approach a plane that just crashed… [but] they were awesome.”
The New York Times reports that Air Niugini Flight 73 was flying from Pohnpei, about 415 miles to the east, and was making a stop in Chuuk before a scheduled leg to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.
The newspaper adds: “The 13-year-old aircraft reportedly sustained damage to its wing in May, when another aircraft that was taxiing at Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby collided with the Air Niugini jet, which was parked and unoccupied at the time.”
-
Dive right into these 8 underwater adventuresThe Week Recommends It’s time to make a splash
-
The world’s oldest rock art reveals hints about human migrationUnder the Radar The art is believed to be over 67,000 years old
-
Grok in the crosshairs as EU launches deepfake porn probeIN THE SPOTLIGHT The European Union has officially begun investigating Elon Musk’s proprietary AI, as regulators zero in on Grok’s porn problem and its impact continent-wide
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
