A Boeing 737 jetliner with 131 passengers aboard crashed on landing and broke into three pieces at a Colombian island in the Caribbean early Monday. The region’s governor said it was a miracle that only one person died.
Colombian Air Force Col. David Barrero said officials were investigating reports the plane, operated by the local airline Aires, had been hit by lightning before crashing at 1:49 a.m. (3:49 a.m. EDT) while landing at San Andres Island, a resort island of 78,000 people about 120 miles east of the Nicaraguan coast.
San Andres Gov. Pedro Gallardo said 125 passengers and six crew members had been aboard, but the only person killed was Amar Fernandez de Barreto, 65. At least five people were reported injured.
‘It was a miracle and we have to give thanks to God,’ the governor said.
The state government said in an e-mail that passengers aboard the Aires plane that left Bogota about midnight included eight U.S. citizens and four Brazilians.
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Passengers said the pilot had announced an impending landing and all seemed normal as the plane descended through rain.
But suddenly it hit short and then slid onto the runway on its belly as the fuselage fractured. It wound up on one end of the runway, crumpled and in pieces, as passengers scrambled or were helped to safety.
