Jet runs off airstrip in Ecuador; none hurt

A passenger jet carrying more than 60 people ran off an airstrip in the Ecuadorean capital on Monday, skidding some 400 meters (400 yards) and smashing through a brick wall. None of the 62 passengers or the crew members aboard the Fokker F-28 operated by Ecuadorean airline Icaro were injured, the carrier and Civil Aviation authorities said. The flight attempted to take off just after 11:00 a.m. (1615 GMT) from Quito's Mariscal Sucre airport en route to the jungle city of El Coca, when it hit a metal antenna at the end of the runway, Ecuavisa television reported. Civil Defense chief Gustavo Bravo told Sonorama radio that airport firefighters worked to extinguish the beginnings of a fire and then attended to the passengers and crew.