Airline Had Initially Said All On Board Were Rescued

An Air Niugini Boeing 737 on approach to Chuuk Island airport in Micronesia landed in the water short of the runway on Friday, resulting is the loss of at least one of the persons on board, according to the airline.

"It is with deep sadness I confirm that the body of a male passenger was discovered by divers today as they conducted a further search of P2-PXE and the surrounding area in the Chuuk Lagoon," said Tahawar Durrani, Chief Executive Officer of Air Niugini Limited in a statement posted on Facebook.

"This is the unaccounted passenger from the aircraft. Our outreach team is in touch with the man’s family and we are making arrangements to repatriate his body.

"The circumstances surrounding this accident are now a matter for relevant authorities as they begin their task of investigating the events that led to the incident and the actions which followed. We are committing all required resources to ascertain the factors that led to this accident.

"We express our deepest sympathy to his family. We are and will continue to provide support to his family in this time of loss."

Fox News reports that initially, the airline had said that all 47 people on board had been rescued.

Jimmy Emilio, general manager of Chuuk Airport at Weno in Micronesia, told Reuters that the plane went into the water 150 yards short of the runway for unknown reasons.

Seven of the people on board were reportedly taken to a nearby hospital, but none sustained serious injuries.

The plane's final destination was Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, according to RNZ Pacific.

(Image from Facebook. Not accident airplane)

FMI: Original report, www.facebook.com/Air-Niugini-88806860236