American Airlines Jet Makes Emergency Landing in Cayman

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) -- An American Airlines Boeing 757 carrying nearly 200 people, including the president of Honduras and his wife, made an emergency landing in Grand Cayman, and two passengers suffered minor injuries, officials said.

''The pilot declared an emergency after a problem with the de-icing equipment,'' airlines spokesman John Hotard said. ''As the plane was clearing 28,000 feet on its descent into Grand Cayman, the aircraft experienced moderate turbulence.''

American flight 953 had originated in New York City at LaGuardia airport, stopped in Miami and was on its way to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Among those on board were Honduran President Ricardo Maduro and his wife, Aguas Ocana, the Honduran government said.

Maduro and Ocana were returning on the Honduras-bound flight from a private weekend trip to Florida, the president's office said in a press statement.

''The president and the first lady are in perfect health,'' the statement said.

President spokesman Jorge Barrios said the government had sent a plane to pick up Maduro, 59, in Grand Cayman and that he was expected to arrive in Tegucigalpa, the capital, later Sunday.

The rest of the 188 passengers and six crew were staying overnight in Grand Cayman, waiting for another plane to arrive and take them on their final legal of the journey, Hotard said.

One passenger suffered a scraped foot and it was not clear what happened to the second, but both were taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries, Hotard said by telephone from the airline's headquarters in Dallas.

The Cayman Islands Health Services confirmed two people were treated for minor injuries Sunday afternoon.