Miami Air runs off runway

MIAMI AIR INTERNATIONAL B737-8Q8 N739MA (CN 30670)    File Photo

A charter flight travel from Guantánamo NAS (NBW/MUGM), Cuba to Jacksonville NAS, FL (NIP/KNIP) USA has slid off a Florida runway Friday evening and abruptly landed in the St. Johns River. The Miami Air Boeing 737-800, registration N732MA, operating as Flight LL293 from Cuba’s Leeward Point Field at Guantánamo Bay experienced a runway overrun upon landing at Jacksonville Naval Air Station/Towers Field (KNIP), Jacksonville, Florida. The airplane came to rest in the shallow waters of St. Johns River, sustaining substantial damage. The 143 passengers and crew survived and initially there have been no reported injuries.The aircraft was a charter flight to bring military personnel and family members home. At the time of landing a thunderstorm was active in the area. Twenty-one people were transported to local hospitals, according to the fire department. Navy officials were told that all passengers on the plane were housed overnight on cots at the hospital at the base in Jacksonville. Crew members were planning to get back on the plane Saturday to recover what they could from overhead luggage bins. Coincidentally, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue division had trained its Special Operations team and marine units in protocol for a similar incident earlier Friday.

Local station WTLV reported that several pets — including at least one dog and one cat — remain unaccounted for. The outlet said the animals were kept in the plane’s cargo hold and cannot be reached until the aircraft is removed from the water.
The plane first flew in April 2001 and is the oldest of six aircraft in Miami Air International’s fleet, according to the Aviation Safety Network. It has been leased in several stints to airlines in Europe. While operating a charter flight for NASCAR drivers in 2012, the same plane taxied off a runway in Concord, N.C., and got stuck in mud before takeoff, but was pulled out without suffering major damage.
Miami Air's website can be found you http://www.miamiair.com/




Aircraft Details
Airline: Miami Air International
Code: LL/BSK
Aircraft: Boeing 737-81Q
Registration: N732MA
Serial Number: 30618
Engines: CFMI CFM56-7B26
First Flew: 12/04/2001
Age: 18 Yrs 1 Mth
Test Registration: N1787B