TIL Desk/World/Miami/ At least 21 people were injured after a Boeing 737 charter jet arriving at a naval air station in Florida from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, slid off the runway into a river, authorities said. All of the 136 passengers and seven crew members had been rescued by early Saturday morning, a Navy spokeswoman said. None of the injuries were life-threatening, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said the plane had never been submerged. Photos showed it floating on the St. Johns River. The accident occurred at about 9.40 p.m. on Friday as the pilot attempted to land the jet at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville amid thunder and heavy rains.
“I think it is a miracle,” Capt. Michael P. Connor, the commanding officer at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, said at a news conference early Saturday. “We could be talking about a different story.” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said the White House had called to offer its assistance.
