SYDNEY (Reuters) - A flotilla of small boats rescued all 47 passengers and crew from an Air Niugini flight that crashed into the sea short of the runway at an airport in the tiny South Pacific nation of Micronesia on Friday, the airport’s manager said. “It was supposed to land but instead of landing it was 150 yards short and she went down,” Jimmy Emilio, general manager of Chuuk Airport at Weno in Micronesia, told Reuters by telephone. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft hit the lagoon surrounding the small island about 9.30 a.m. local time (2330 GMT Thursday), Emilio said. Dr Yaingeluo said initially there were nine people taken to hospital, including one who was seriously injured. Air Niugini said in a statement the airline is “making all efforts” to look after the passengers and crew. A spokesman for Papua New Guinea’s Accident Investigation Commission said investigators would fly to the scene as soon as possible to piece together what happened.
Air Niugini Flight 73 lands short at Chuuk International Airport and settles in a shallow lagoon. All passengers and crew are successfully evacuated.