Passenger: Warning probably saved lives
A crash victim grimaces while being taken by emergency officers to an ambulance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sunday.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A flight attendant's warning to passengers to brace themselves before a crash landing probably saved lives, a passenger on the commuter flight told a newspaper.
American Eagle Flight 5401, with 26 people aboard, was arriving Sunday at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan from the western Puerto Rican city of Mayaguez when it blew a tire on landing.
The Super ATR turboprop was thrown off balance and one of its wings struck the runway, Port Authority executive director Miguel Soto Lacourt said. At least 12 people were injured.
In the moments before Sunday's accident a flight attendant announced, "Brace position, please. This is an emergency," passenger Luis Ramirez Alicea told the Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora.
"The other people followed the instructions," he was quoted as saying. "If not, there would have been deaths."
It was unclear what prompted the warning for passengers to lean forward and brace for an impact. Gusty winds were reported in the area at the time.
Twelve people were hospitalized, including the pilot and co-pilot, while others suffered cuts and bruises but were treated at the airport, American Airlines spokeswoman Minnette Velez told The Associated Press.
A five-member team of investigators from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board was studying the plane, which remained tilted with its left wing to the ground off the runway where it skidded to a stop, NTSB spokesman Terry Williams said by telephone from Washington.
He said they were accompanied by an official from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Authorities declined to say which tire was believed to have blown out upon landing.
The twin-engine plane, which was manufactured in 1995, has a capacity for 64 passengers. Twenty-two were on board, plus four crew members.
Authorities initially said 13 were hospitalized, but later revised the number to 12. Some were taken out on stretchers and others wore neck braces.
The pilot didn't radio the control tower in the U.S. Caribbean territory to report trouble before the accident, Soto said.
American Eagle is a commuter carrier owned by the parent company of American Airlines, AMR Corp., based in Fort Worth, Texas.
