Reports that an AA plane has crashed and split in two while landing in heavy rain at Kingston, Jamaica. No further details at this time.
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Reports that an AA plane has crashed and split in two while landing in heavy rain at Kingston, Jamaica. No further details at this time.
Flight was AA831, a 737-800 from Miami.
CNN: 145 passengers, 7 crew on board. Jamaican authorities say there are no initial reports of casualties.
AA's Twitter: There have been no reported injuries or fatalities on Flight #331. Standby for updates.
read that the airplane overshot the runway before breaking into two pieces.
aal331 is the flight number:
http://newsbizarre.com/2009/12/ameri...1-jamaica.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580942,00.html
Current METAR for Kingston: METAR MKJP 230500Z 35002KT 33000 +RA BKN014 BKN090 20/18 Q1013
CBC reports 40 passengers have been taken to the hospital.
Good lord, this year is BRUTAL! Fingers crossed that it is a totally survived incident. I am anxious to see photographs of the scene.
Reportedly N977AN.
Mr. Futterman got a nice shot of her at LGA in 2005:
http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/2/1...3785751_tb.jpg
AA reports the #2 engine came off, and the left main gear collapsed. Four serious injuries.
I guess it could have been a lot worse...no serious injuries, and no fatalities.
I guess the airplane is a write off though....
This will be a very special Christmas for those on board and their families and friends....
You hit the nail on the head. Bun and cheese will taste extra good this Christmas in Jamaica for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Art at ISP
AvHerald has a picture of the wreckage and it is in at least two peices. Reminds me of the MD80 crash at Little Rock like 15 years ago or somthing. I will be anxxious to see if they landed long because the runway at KIN isnt the shortest in the world.
Almost 9,000 ft, but only a few yards from the Caribbean Sea on either end. Light winds but low vis at the time. Should be interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by hiss srq
Indeed, Look at this video I just took from AvHearald. It LEAPED across the roadway, the roadway is set down into a ravine apparently.
And in this one you can actually see the Captain helping a passenger from the scene in a wheelchair. My best wishes to him and his F/O's career. No judgements though. Not yet.
Here a photo I took of that runway while on approach once.You can see how close the ends are to the water.
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/K...12a_083107.jpg
Glad everyone survived.
Makes you wonder how far down they landed than, the runway doesnt have much rubber on the other end and likely not much oil slick either in that event to slide on. (That stuff can make braking near nill on a wet runway). I know they had a 12 knot tailwind though. I have never been in and out of the airport in KIN. MoBay is closer to where I lived. Awesome photo either way Phil!
Glad to hear no one was seriously injured and everyone got off ok. Ashame about the plane though, it was relatively new.
No write off yet. No clue exact tail number
It's broken in half, so write-off seems pretty likely. Tail number is N977AN, which is about eight years old.Quote:
Originally Posted by NLovis
Seeing the damage, and the road it jumped over, it must have been quite an impact...really amazing there was no fire or severe injuries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
Ehhh, nothing some speed tape can't fix! :lol:
Glad to hear there were no fatalities. Will be interesting to hear the exact cause of the crash... Where exactly did the aircraft come to rest? From Phil's pic, it doesn't look like there is much room on either side past the ends before you hop into the drink, but looking at the video it appears they are on a raised grassy surface. Did they laterally go off the runway?
Phil's photo shows the same approach AA331 was on. They ended up on the far end of that runway, which has a road and a small beach between it and the water.Quote:
Originally Posted by USAF Pilot 07
hmmm, i wonder if I could transfer to there...one ILS...golden
tain number has been confirmed? yea i know a write off is iniment but they havent actually written it off yetQuote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
Yes, it is N977AN, and was confirmed very early.Quote:
Originally Posted by NLovis
[img]http://media.nbcdfw.com/images/640*426/PHOTO_7097699.jpg[/img]
[img]http://media.nbcdfw.com/images/640*426/PHOTO_7097721.jpg[/img]
Here are some new photos from the ground: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-373400
You know, looking at those pictures..looks like the fuse broke perfectly where the seams are joined during the assembly...
that's definately something...
That thing still had some good speed behind it if it made that jump the way it did. HOLY SMOKES! Amazing pictures. I am very anxious to see the outcomes on this accident.
thats actually really good. goes to show you how well that plane is made and why its the most successful line in aviation history. If the fuse broke anywhere else there definitly would have been alot more serious injuries and possibly deaths. Also because it broke at the seams the plane doesnt necessarily have to be a write off. That area can be taken apart and rebuilt as shown with the 747 dreamlifters. It now comes down to wether AA wants to repair the plane or just scrap it. If you look closely at picture #4 you can see the tail end of the plane just split directly at the seam. Its a clean split unlike the front of the plane that is torn up along the split line. Its possible this girl can fly again but very unlikely.Quote:
Originally Posted by mmedford
I highly doubt that that airplane will even be contemplated for reentry to service unless it is a Coke can served on a JFK-MIA run for AA in the future. The wing spar is obviously going to have serious damage, the fuse is broken multiple times. They may as well start sending it in parts to a canning factory so I can drink my Pinapple Bigga from it when I get back to Jamaica in March.
I am very anxious to see the findings and initial recreations on this accident. KIN on furthur research has ungrooved surfaces which directly impact the stopping distances when your calculating them. Particularly with a contaminated surface. I am very anxious to see where they touched down though on the runway as well as if they had the autobrakes on MAX which would given weight, prevailing weather conditions and runway surface conditions be the likely setting I would imagine. My 737 background though is on the 300/400 mainly. The TR's on the 737 as a note to some who are maybe less informed or educated on the technical operation of airplanes is not a calculated factor in landing distance for airplane. It is based on brakes.
If those yellow blocks are concrete in origin, then God was truly with them. A few more feet to the right and forward and that inpact may not have been as survivable for those up front.
Amazing.
A real airline would just get some duct tape. The only issue I foresee would be the hump in the isle that would make it difficult to push the drink cart over. 8) :borat:Quote:
Originally Posted by hiss srq
Looks a lot like this one, which was a bit more violent, but also no fire.Quote:
Originally Posted by mmedford
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...ane-cr-001.jpg
Want to do a mini-editorial on this site's coverage on this accident. I first learned of it at about 0615 this morning, watched the TV news reports, checked here and the blue site. Spent most of the day away from the computer and rechecked this thread around 2 hours ago but not the blue site.
Whenever events like this happens the blue site is really frustrating because you have to read thru so much crap to find the vital and interesting updates. But here their where timely updates and great selection of daylight photos. And it did not take me forever to find it. Nice job Phil and Gotham Spotter.
Now 2 of my own coments. I feel AA was very lucky to have 2 non-fatal landing incidents in as many weeks (MD-80 at CLT) that both had no fatalities (the 1st had no injuries) that both could have been disasters. Had the 737 gone into the ocean or caught fire it would have had a very different outcome. And since the MD80's wingtip impacted the runway at high speed a cartwheel was probably a realistic possibulity, had that happened it could have easily caused an explosion making the landing possibly not survivable. Either one would have been bad news for AA and god forbide they both went the other way so close together and so close to the Holidays, a PR nightmare in the making. Thrilled none of this happened.
The other about the 737's fuselage break points, when N416US was destroyed overuning rwy 31 at LGA in 1989 the 737-400 broke in almost the same 2 places as both this accident and the Turkish in the photo above.
Nice to be able to end this post without having to type RIP.
Looking forward to more details when they become available.
LGA777
Again very unlikely but it is possible. This will mess with AA's outing of its MD-82 and -83's.
Apparently some of the overwater approach lights have been out of service since the end of November.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2009-1 ... ights.htmlQuote:
A 400-meter (1,312 feet) stretch of white lights over the water from the shoreline near the Kingston airport is out, while a 50-meter segment on land near Runway 12 is functioning, Operations Director Stanley Smith said today. The system is supposed to be replaced by the end of January, he said.
I don't think one aircraft will actually affect the removal of an entire fleet.Quote:
Originally Posted by NLovis
This should actually work for American actually in several ways. They will take a significant insc. payout on the writeoff. It will also serve to remove a little capacity in the network overall though it is a small number. Good thing they are getting a new 737 every ten days for the next little while eh?
in short it will. They lost a 737 and those 737's are replacing their MD-82 -83. With one 737 gone now they have to keep a MD-80 in service even longer to compensate for the loss.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil D.