Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas reopened Monday after ground crews cleaned up and towed away a twin-engine cargo plane that had skidded off the runway, through a fence and onto the road.
V.I. Port Authority spokeswoman Monife Marrero said the Fresh Air plane took off from the King airport at 7:47 a.m. Monday morning after delivering a shipment of bread from Puerto Rico. Sometime during or just after takeoff, the airport tower noticed the pilot side engine smoking and radioed the pilot.
Already in the air, the plane circled and made an emergency landing at the airport but was unable to come to a stop on the runway, skidding off and through the fence and onto the road, Marrero said.
Pilot Carlos Garcia and and co-pilot Eduardo Vasquez were not injured, Marrero said. But the fence had to be repaired, the plane removed and the runway swept of debris before the airport could reopen.
Because of the temporary closure, an American Airlines flight from St. Thomas to Miami was delayed, according to Marrero. It was not immediately known if other flights were affected.
Marrero said in her 15 years at VIPA, this is the most extreme emergency landing she has seen.
"They usually just get off and land in the grassy area, but this one actually came out the fence," she said.
Marrero said it is too early to tell what caused the engine to smoke.