As investigators work to determine what caused an American Airlines plane to overshoot the runway near the Norman Manley International Airport, one local aviation official is calling it a "Christmas miracle".

"If it (the plane) was going a little faster, it would have ended up in the sea ... a little slower and it would have ended up on the road ... either scenario would have been catastrophic," declared director general of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Derby.

The Boeing 737 aircraft with 148 passengers and six crew members careened off the airport's runway while attempting to land about 10:22 p.m. Tuesday night and came to a stop on the other side of the Port Royal Road, just metres from the sea.

Updating reporters in Kingston yesterday, Government and civil aviation officials disclosed that the pilot was drug-tested within hours of the crash and that the flight data recorder (black box) was recovered.

Derby was careful to note that testing the pilot for drugs was a standard procedure after an accident. In addition, he said investigators would question him "within the next 24 hours".

Derby sidestepped questions about a possible cause for the accident, but gave the assurance that a thorough investigation would be conducted.

Soon after the press briefing, six experts from the National Transport Safety Board in the United States and seven from American Airlines flew into the island to assist the JCAA, who will be leading the investigation.

Flurry of activity

The accident set off a flurry of activity as the injured were rushed to four Corporate Area hospitals and officials closed the airport for several hours to ensure the safety of other incoming flights.

Information Minister Daryl Vaz, one of three ministers who met with the media yesterday, said 92 passengers were injured in the accident.

He said all but 13 and the six-member crew were released after being treated at the Kingston Public Hospital, Andrews Memorial Hospital, the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and Medical Associates Hospital.

When contacted, chief executive officer of the UHWI, Dr Trevor McCartney, said the hospital got 35 people from the accident with minor bumps and bruises.

Not life-threatening

He said the hospital decided to keep the six-member crew "for observation", but added that they were not facing life-threatening injuries.

Transport Minister Mike Henry announced that the airport was reopened several hours after the incident, but noted that airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which use much larger planes, were being redirected to Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James.

Mike Henry (left), minister of transport and works, and Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Derby, director general of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, address journalists during a press briefing at Jamaica House, St Andrew, yesterday. - Rudolph Brown/Photographer