Officials at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville say they still haven’t been able to retrieve pets from the cargo hold of a plane went off a runway and ended up in the St. Johns River.
A navy statement early Saturday says safety issues have prevented rescuers from retrieving the animals on board the chartered Boeing 737, which carried 143 people Friday night from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The statement offers “hearts and prayers” to the pet owners.
None of the people on board were critically injured, although some were taken to hospitals. The cause of the crash has not been announced. The plane remains stuck in shallow water.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have been dispatched to determine what happened.
A photo posted by deputies Friday night shows a Miami Air International logo on the plane. The company didn’t immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.
Capt. Michael Connor, the commanding officer of NAS Jacksonville, said during a news conference that passengers were a mix of civilian and military personnel. Some were staying in the area, while others were set to fly on to other parts of the country.
While the crash certainly wasn’t ideal, Connor acknowledged that it could have been much worse.
“I think it is a miracle,” Connor said. “We could be talking about a different story this evening.”
It wasn’t known how long it would take to remove the plane from the river, but Connor said the landing gear appeared to be resting on the river bed, making it unlikely for the aircraft to float away. He said crews began working to contain any jet fuel leaks almost immediately after securing the passengers’ safety.
Liz Torres told the Florida Times-Union that she heard what sounded like a gunshot Friday night from her home in Orange Park, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of NAS Jacksonville. She then drove down to a Target parking lot where police and firefighters were staging to find out more.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department posted on Twitter that approximately 90 personnel responded to the scene, adding that the department’s special operations team had trained with marine units for a similar incident earlier Friday.
Navy security and emergency response personnel were on the scene and monitoring the situation, the Navy release said. Family members who were expecting the arrival of passengers were instructed to stand by.
Officials did not immediately say what caused the plane to leave the runway. Boeing said in a tweet Friday night that it was investigating: “We are aware of an incident in Jacksonville, Fla., and are gathering information.”
The Federal Aviation Administration was referring media inquiries to NAS Jacksonville.