On May 3, 2018 a Miami Air Boeing 737 carrying 143 people, crashed into the St. John’s River after sliding off the runway at NAS Jax. The aircraft was arriving from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Nearly two dozen passengers went to area hospitals.
It has now been one week since the accident and the aircraft has been removed from the St. John’s River. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continues to investigate the cause of the crash but the vice chairman of the NTSB estimates that the investigation could take up to 18 months.
A few things that we know for certain:
- The airplane had a maintenance log noting the left hand thrust reverser was inoperative. This component is designed to slow the airplane by diverting thrust from an engine.
- Before landing, the pilot asked to switch runways. The runway they used for landing had equipment set up on it causing the available runway space to be reduced by 1,200 feet.
- The airplane landed with a tail wind of 17mph, which increased the aircraft’s ground speed to 205 mph.
The cockpit voice recorder should now be recovered since the aircraft has been lifted from the water. This recording should shed more light on what happened leading up to the accident.
Were you or a family member a victim of this accident? Do you have questions and are not sure where to turn? If you would like a free consultation, call us today at (904) 358-3300. We are here to help!
Information from:
News4Jax
Florida Times Union
REUTERS
Photo credit: Florida Times Union
