A group of Texas baseball fans should be thanking their lucky stars after escaping from a jet that burst into flames after crashing through a barrier at Houston Executive Airport on Tuesday. The aircraft, an MD-87 airliner converted for private use, was carrying 18 passengers and three crew, all of whom managed to escape in time and with only two in need of treatment for minor injuries. The aircraft was taking the group to Boston to cheer on the Astros in last night’s match against the Red Sox when, according to passenger Cheryl McCaskill, it “ran out of runway.” “When it finally stopped, everyone went ‘Get out! Get out! Get out!’ We jumped out on that inflatable thing and then everyone went ‘Get away!” McCaskill told the Houston Chronicle.
Air-safety officials were quick to recognize how lucky those aboard had been, with one calling it “absolutely, positively got the best outcome we could hope for on this incident.” Stephen Woodard, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters: “This is a good day. This is actually a day of celebration for a lot of people.”
Read it at Houston Chronicle
