SYDNEY (Reuters) - A flotilla of small boats rescued all 47 passengers and crew from an Air Niugini flight that crashed into the sea short of the runway at an airport in the tiny South Pacific nation of Micronesia on Friday, the airport's manager said. "We don't really know what happened ... people were rescued by boats - 36 passengers and 11 crew were all rescued, only the plane is sinking right now," he said. The passengers and crew were taken to hospital, where eight remained, four in a serious condition with bone fractures and other injuries, according to a hospital spokesman. Air Niugini said in a statement that "the weather was very poor with heavy rain and reduced visibility at the time of the incident". In 2013, all 101 passengers aboard a Lion Air flight that overshot the runway at Denpasar in Indonesia and landed in shallow water were similarly rescued by boats without casualties.

Source: thestar September 28, 2018 04:30 UTC