Niko Hurley. - Contributed photos

Before Tuesday night, 25-year-old Niko Hurley had no fear of flying. After his horrific experience on American Airlines' flight 331 however, he is now contemplating whether he'll be able to even handle the flight back home.

Hurley was among the 148 passengers aboard the plane that skidded off the runway, crossed the road and landed inches away from the sea late Tuesday night. He was coming to Jamaica to visit his mother and other family members and had boarded the aircraft in Miami after travelling from San Francisco, California.

He told THE WEEKEND STAR, "I'm not normally nervous about travelling. I actually travel a lot, to and from California and even to Europe, but this has made me feel that anything can happen." He was scheduled to return home on January 5, but now he's not so sure. "I don't even know if I'm going back," he said. "I am not anxious to get back on a plane."

Apart from some turbulence which was attributed to the bad weather and an hour-long delay due to 'luggage matters' that kept them longer than scheduled in Miami, passengers had no way of knowing the horror that was waiting for them on the tarmac in Kingston.

Hurley told THE WEEKEND STAR that up to moments before the accident, all was well. So well in fact, that passengers applauded when the plane hit the ground - sending a signal that they were appreciative of the 'safe' landing. Appreciation soon turned to fright and desperation, however, when passengers saw the lights go out, and realised that the plane was skidding. Before they knew it, they had crashed.

crash was chaotic

The American Airline plane which crashed.

"I didn't even realise that the plane had crashed," Hurley said. "Everything seemed normal. We came in and landed and everybody started clapping. Then, everything just happened at once. The lights went out and everybody was thrown forward, everyone hit their faces. There was a lot of metal around and things were falling out of the overhead compartments."

Hurley said the aftermath of the crash was chaotic - passengers crying and screaming, rushing to get out of the aircraft and to help others get out as well. He said he crawled out of the wreckage and on to the wing, before being transported from the scene in a bus. He suffered a bruise to the face and considers himself lucky. "When I realised that I was ok, I said ' thank God'."

overcome with emotions

He managed to save his hand luggage, but said he does not know what became of his check-in luggage, a bag which bore the gifts he had brought for his family as well as his personal effects.

His mother he said, was overcome with emotions when she finally got to see him and realised he was safe, as she had been searching for him earlier, with no success.

She may never get the gifts he brought for her, but those gifts, no doubt, mean nothing compared to the joy of having her son home, safe and sound for Christmas.