Air Niugini Crash in Truk

[OzMikeM]

Breaking news:

Air Niugini Flight 73 crashes in Chuuk, FAA confirms

I was on this flight 5 days ago...... feeling lucky.

Wow, everyone is safe, that's fantastic!

Air Niugini plane overshoots runway in Truk and crashes into ocean

Given the number of divers who use that flight, I suspect it's inevitable at least some were on board. I really hope everyone is ok and that no SB'ers were on board.

I know it's a bit early for the jokes...But I wonder what they're going to do with the plane? Salvage or leave it as another wreck for Truk?

 

[Kevrumbo]

Tow it in front of the Truk Stop Hotel / Truk Lagoon Dive Center, and sink it in 6 to 9msw: turn it into a shallow overhead training vessel for wreck courses & classes, similar to that aircraft fuselage wreck (US Navy P3 Orion?) in front of Vasco's Hotel/Resort in Subic Bay Philippines.

 

[Johnoly]

One article mentioned it sank in 300ft, Yikes!
Being a Friday morning before a US holiday weekend, gotta think there was divers on board.
Hope someone can tell us of the experience or point a friend that was on board to this post to fill us in.
I don't know if they will recover the plane. Potentially, All that technical dive gear lost $$$$,,,Ouch!

 

[LittleNat]

According to the news, no one was seriously hurt. Thank goodness!

 

[Pinecube]

Air Niugini plane misses runway, lands in sea off Micronesia island - CNN

It looks like everyone survived!

 

[borisphotosafari]

Glad everyone survived the crash. Looks like the plane is just of shore in shallow water.

 

[KathyV]

Here's more about the crash, apparently one passenger was critically injured but survived:

Air Niugini plane crash in Micronesia: American who was on plane describes crash - CBS News

 

[Jared0425]

If divers act quickly enough they may still be able to raid the beverage cart!

 

[clownfishsydney]

Always scary landing there, I swear they put the engines in reverse before the wheels touch the tarmac! Glad there was a pretty good outcome.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Always scary landing there, I swear they put the engines in reverse before the wheels touch the tarmac! Glad there was a pretty good outcome.

A couple of US Air Force Academy Graduate F15 Fighter and Iraqi Freedom Veterans now United Airline Pilots I dove with in Truk said that that short landing & take-off at Chuuk Int'l Airport is one of the more challenging maneuvers in the Micronesia Island Hopper Route, and civilian commercial aviation in general -and that's even so coming down on final approach just in Visual Flight Rules and fair daytime weather (I've had rough United 737 landings on there during rain squalls at night were I thought we were going end up in the Lagoon like that Air Niugini jetliner, or "auger in" crashing between the hill peaks of the Saddle).