Plane Ends Up in Jacksonville River, 21 Injured

A commercial plane carrying nearly 150 passengers went down into the St. Johns River near Naval Air Station Jacksonville on Friday night, sending 21 people to the hospital, authorities said.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office confirmed the incident in a tweet accompanied by photos of the plane stuck in “shallow” water, adding that the plane had not been submerged in the shallow water.

“Every person is alive and accounted for,” the sheriff’s office said, adding that none of the injuries were critical.

NAS Jacksonville said the Boeing 737 had been arriving from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay when it “slid off the runway” into the water. “Navy security and emergency response personnel are on the scene and monitoring the situation,” the naval station said. Local News4Jax reported that 142 people were on board the plane.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry had called on people to “pray” for the passengers when fire and rescue workers first arrived at the scene before firing off a flurry of relieved tweets once authorities announced all the passengers had survived.

“Our Fire and Rescue teams are family to all,” he wrote. “We are all 1 family. 1 people. 1 city,” he said.