A Fly Jamaica flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Cheddi Jagan International Airport today after apparently experiencing issues with its hydraulics.
The flight departed Georgetown's airport in Guyana at 2:09 a.m. local time, destined for Toronto, Canada, but was forced to turn around within in the hour due to technical difficulties.
The Boeing 757-200 plane touched down at 2:53 a.m. local time but overshot the runway and "came to rest across the airport perimeter fence," Aviation Safety reported. Six passengers received non-life threatening injuries and were transported to hospital for treatment.
The airline said in a statement: "We can confirm that Fly Jamaica flight OJ256 bound for Toronto has returned to Georgetown with a technical problem and has suffered an accident on landing. At this time, we believe that all 118 passengers and 8 crew members are safe. We are providing local assistance and will release further information as soon as it is available."
AirLive reported the aircraft suffered "severe damages." It said the "right main gear collapsed and the right engine was detached from the wing." The aviation website reported passengers included one American, 82 Canadians, 35 Guyanese, one Pakistani and one Trinidadian.
Cheddi Jagan International Airport posted an image of the downed plane to Facebook.
One passenger, named Invor Bedessee, told Canadian news outlet CTV: "We were saved on top of the edge of the cliff. It was a very scary flight. There was praying. There was cursing. Everything was chaos. They just wanted to get off the plane, get off the plane, fast."
Fly Jamaica Airways spokesperson Carl Bowen confirmed to the Associated Press that the flight crew was unable to stop the plane when it touched down in Guyana. He said "alternative arrangements" were being made to fly out the passengers. The airport has since reopened.
Fly Jamaica Airways is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.
FlyJamaica Boeing 757-200 (N524AT) overran runway 06 at Georgetown Intl Airport (SYCJ) with 120 on board. Acft. came to a stop on soft sand. One gear collapsed. Some injuries were reported. Damage is substantial. Flight #OJ256 to Toronto. https://t.co/WPjZEEcoDM pic.twitter.com/bCz6D0K9V8
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) November 9, 2018
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