"Lucky to be alive," say passenger of crashed Caribbean plane

Washington: "I am in pain, but very thankful to be alive," says Geeta Ramsingh, a 41-year-old Indian-origin woman who was among the 163 passengers who miraculously survived a Caribbean Airlines jet crash in Guyana.
Thirty-five of those on board flight BW523 were injured as the Boeing 737-800 plane crashed in Guyana''s Cheddi Jagan International Airport amid rain yesterday.
Recalling the events before the crash, Geeta, who is originally from Guyana but now lives in Philadelphia, said the plane made a hard landing and split into two right behind the first class cabin area.
Geeta said they had begun to applaud the pilot''s landing just after midnight when suddenly things went wrong, Trinidad Express reported.
There were 157 passengers and six crew members on the flight which came from New York, stopped off in Trinidad and was en route to Guyana.
"The plane sped up as if attempting to take off again. It is then that I smelled gas in the cabin and people started to shout and holler," Geeta said.
"A fellow who was trying to escape as well mistakenly jumped on my back and that is why my knees are bruised," she said. "So I am in pain, but very thankful to be alive," she was quoted as saying by AP.
31/07/11 PTI/msn news

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Categories: Airports Jul 2011, Foreign Jul 2011, Safety Jul 2011