US commercial plane slides into river, no casualties

Photo: Credit: https://twitter.com/JSOPIO

Photo: Credit: https://twitter.com/JSOPIO

Washington: A US commercial jet with more than 130 people on board, slid into a river in Florida, an official said, adding that all lives have been accounted for.

“We have a commercial plane down on the river,” Lenny Curry, Mayor of Jacksonville said on Friday.

It is unclear how many were injured, reports Xinhua news agency.

The flight, a Boeing 737, slid off a runway into the St. Johns river at about 9.40 p.m. on Friday, according to a spokesman from the Naval Air Station Jacksonville.

It appears that the plane skidded into the river as it tried to land.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said in a tweet that the plane was in “shallow water” and was not “submerged”.

It is also unclear if the cause of the incident was similar to that of the two deadly Boeing 737 MAX crashes in recent months.

Published on: May 4, 2019 at 10:38 IST

IANS