Passenger Plane Misses Runway, Crash-Lands in Ocean

An Air Niugini passenger plane was sinking in the ocean on Sept. 28 after the plane landed before reaching the air strip at Chuuk Airport in Micronesia.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s office in Guam confirmed that an Air Niugini plane carrying 36 passengers and 11 crew members crashed into the waters off Weno Island in the Federated States Of Micronesia.

Chuuk Lagoon surrounding Weno Island in the n the Federated States Of Micronesia. (Screenshot/Google Maps)

According to Jimmy Emilio, the Chuuk airport manager, the plane had landed around 160 yards short of the runway at around 9:30 a.m., reported Pacific Daily News.

Air Niugini is Papua New Guinea’s leading airline and flies to over 30 destinations both nationally and internationally.

According to local news reports, the Boeing 737-800 was running according to schedule, stopping in Chuuk while on its way from Pohnpei, Micronesia to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The flight is part of the airline’s bi-weekly service between the Federated States Of Micronesia and Port Moresby.

Witnesses have since said that some passengers on the plane sustained serious injuries.

Emilio has since confirmed that all of the 36 passengers and 11 crew members on board the plane are accounted for and alive, reported PDN.

They were all taken to a local hospital for a medical check.

Air Niugini management staff held a crisis meeting after the incident.

It remains unclear what caused the plane to crash.

“Somebody has to look into that and let us now,” Emilio told PDN. “So far, we don’t know why they went down.”

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