Plane slides off runway into Florida river, 21 hurt

A Boeing jetliner with 143 people aboard from the U.S. outpost at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, slid off a runway into a shallow river in Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday while attempting to land at a military base there during a thunderstorm, injuring 21 people.

There were no reports of fatalities or critical injuries. All 21 of the injured were taken to a hospital, where they were listed in good condition.

The plane, a chartered Boeing 737-800 arriving from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba with 136 passengers and seven crew members, crashed into the St. Johns river at the end of the runway at Naval Air Station Jacksonville at about 9:40 p.m. local time, a spokesman for the Florida air base said.

The plane was not submerged. Every person is alive and accounted for, the sheriff’s office said on Twitter.

The military base is situated on the western bank of the St. Johns River about 8 miles south of central Jacksonville, in the northeastern corner of Florida about 350 miles north of Miami. 

Miami Air International is a charter airline operating a fleet of the Boeing 737-800, different from the 737 MAX 8 aircraft that has been grounded following two fatal crashes involving that plane.