115 survive jet's crash landing

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — "Fire! Fire!" the passengers yelled.

Like many others on her flight, Nuniek Sufithri had thanked God she was alive after the Boeing 737-400 made a terrifying descent and lurched off the runway, bouncing several times before plowing through a fence.

Then the jetliner burst into flames, sending panic through the rows of seats.

"People started yelling 'Fire! Fire!"' said Sufithri, who is 10 weeks pregnant. "I tried to get out but was trampled. ... Someone pulled me up, carried me to the back door and threw me out."

At least 21 people were killed in the burning wreckage of the Garuda Airlines plane after it crash-landed Wednesday at Yogyakarta airport on Java island, the latest in a string of recent plane crashes that has cast doubt on the safety of Indonesia's airline industry.

About 115 others escaped through emergency exits as black smoke billowed behind them, and two passengers were missing, officials said. Most survivors escaped without major injuries, although several suffered burns and broken bones.

Sufithri, 30, was rushed to a hospital after a stranger swept her up from a rice paddy. She suffered no major injuries and did not miscarry.

Wayan Sukarda, an Indonesian cameraman for Australia's Seven Network, managed to scramble off the plane, then shot dramatic video of dazed passengers fleeing as black smoke and orange flames poured from the fuselage behind them.

An explosion and fireball then ripped through the air, apparently as the fire reached a fuel tank, the footage showed.

Sukarda had called the network as the plane was crashing, a colleague told The West Australian newspaper. "He was screaming, 'The plane's crashing.' I thought he must have seen another plane crash. I didn't know it was the one he was on. You could hear all the alarms and sirens going off, people screaming," said Channel Seven's Danny Sim.

A man who lived near the crash site said the plane reached the end of the runway and then "jumped in the air."

"I heard a loud noise and saw flames," said Subarno, who like many Indonesians uses a single name. "I saw a man — I think he was the pilot — shouting 'Get out! Get out!' Some people were on fire. Not long after, there were three explosions."