Boeing 737 crashes in Micronesia lagoon

[HiFlyChick]

"All 47 passengers and crew survived a plane's crash landing in a Pacific lagoon Friday morning, wading through waist-deep water to the emergency exits and escaping on local boats that came to the rescue in the Micronesia archipelago...."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/micronesi ... -1.4842118

[Chris M]

Passenger quote:

"I thought we landed hard," he said. "Until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in. And I thought, well, this is not the way it's supposed to happen."

[switchflicker]

"I'm alive," said Jaynes, the passenger. "That's an extremely good thing."

Can't argue with that logic

[Eric Janson]

Just another day in Asia!

The only thing that surprises me is that there aren’t more accidents.

[GRK2]

Jeez Eric, last time I checked Chuuk Lagoon was in the Micronesian Islands... 7 degrees N if I'm not wrong...not really close to Asia is it? More of a mid ocean kinda place...careful dude, your bias is showing.

[The Hammer]

Better in the lagoon than in the rocks/trees about just short of the runway I guess. Similar to what WJ almost did in the Caribbean??

[pelmet]

Jeez Eric, last time I checked Chuuk Lagoon was in the Micronesian Islands... 7 degrees N if I'm not wrong...not really close to Asia is it? More of a mid ocean kinda place...careful dude, your bias is showing.

He might be talking about the location of the operator rather than the particular location they crashed.

As for Chuuk(also known as Truk)...I have been there for a vacation. Incredible wreck diving on Japanese WWII ships and aircraft.

I do happen to know someone who says that he has flown that particular aircraft for this particular airline several years ago. He says the expats were pretty much run out by the locals and that their level of safety is not exactly the best. I'll try to get more inside safety info the next time I see him.

[lownslow]

As for Chuuk(also known as Truk)...I have been there for a vacation. Incredible wreck diving on Japanese WWII ships and aircraft.

The airline is just cutting out the middle man on those lagoon diving vacation packages.

[pelmet]

As for Chuuk(also known as Truk)...I have been there for a vacation. Incredible wreck diving on Japanese WWII ships and aircraft.

The airline is just cutting out the middle man on those lagoon diving vacation packages.

Not sure where they flew in from. I did the Island Hopper flight out of Hawaii on the Continental 737-800 ETOPS. Honolulu for an almost five hour flight to Majuro(a strip of land about twice as wide as the runway, then 1 hour hops to Kwajalein(high security US military base where missile intercepted test rockets are launched and an even larger sized narrow ribbon atoll), Kosrae(a scenic rocky island), and was then bumped off the flight in Pohnpei(home of Chicken Shit mountain - from translation - and a very interesting place to visit called Nan Madol). After a week in Chuuk(or Truk) scuba diving incredible Japanese wrecks, I flew to Guam(where a Japanese soldier only surrendered in 1974), Yap, home of the bare breasted native women and the largest coins in the world) and spent another week diving im Palau(has more great wrecks, fantastic reef diving, and the incredible jellyfish Lake).

It is sort of like the Arctic. A bunch of remote places mostly inhabited by natives supplied by airplanes. Except it is tropical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIBfyOyiDto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUx3n5ZsWSc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG5z-KaWj4k

[Eric Janson]

Jeez Eric, last time I checked Chuuk Lagoon was in the Micronesian Islands... 7 degrees N if I'm not wrong...not really close to Asia is it? More of a mid ocean kinda place...careful dude, your bias is showing.

This region of the World seems to be generally known as the Asia Pacific region.

My "bias" is based on first hand experiences further West.

Safety Culture is non existent in a lot of countries. I have seen serious incidents completely covered up by the local CAA.

Pelmet's comments aren't a surprise - pretty much what I expected.

[pelmet]

According to my contact who is in the know about PNG much more than any average expat who has worked there.....a few years ago, they got a new very corrupt prime minister who pressured the airline to make it an airline of locals without place for the expats who were working there. He says he knew and flew with this captain and predicted several years ago that an accident would happen at this airline with all the holes in the Swiss Cheese lining up.