TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- Seven people died and more than 80 were injured when a commercial airliner overshot the runway and traveled into an adjoining street, where it crushed three vehicles and cracked into three sections before coming to a halt a few feet from a house, officials said.
A television image shows the Grupo TACA plane lying in a neighborhood in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. more photos »
The injured included the former head of Honduras' armed forces, Gen. Daniel Lopez Carballo, in the crash on Friday.
The Grupo Taca Airbus 320 was trying to land with 124 people on board when it overshot the runway. Its nose smashed into an embankment and its fuselage buckled and broke in places, trapping the pilot and co-pilot inside.
Rescuers had to pry open part of the wreckage to get them out, but the pilot didn't survive, said Cesar Villalta, director of Honduras' military hospital.
Passenger Harry Brautigam, a Nicaraguan who headed a regional development bank, died of heart failure shortly after the crash. The body of a man trapped under the plane's wreckage was believed to be a taxi driver.
Janneth Shantall, the wife of Brazilian Ambassador Brian Michael Fraser Neele, was also killed in the crash, an employee of the Brazilian embassy told local media. That employee, Dennis Hernandez, said the ambassador was also aboard the plane and was injured. Hernandez said he didn't know the ambassador's condition.
More than 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of fuel spilled out of the jet, and authorities tried to clear away hundreds of onlookers while they hosed down cars trapped under the plane's left engine.
"The airplane's fuel could cause an explosion, and that would be an even bigger tragedy," Security Ministry spokesman Ivan Mejia said.
Many passengers walked away from the accident.
Roberto Sosa, 34, told The Associated Press: "We landed ... and suddenly I heard a really strong, loud impact." Watch rescuers work to free passengers »
Mirtila Lopez, 71, said she was talking to another passenger when the plane "left the runway, hit electric cables from a nearby street and then got stuck in the side of a small ravine."
The plane left San Salvador at 8:30 a.m. local time carrying passengers mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica. It was scheduled to stop briefly in Tegucigalpa and in San Pedro Sula before heading to Miami.
It was unclear what caused the crash, but weather may have been a factor. The runway was wet with rain from Tropical Storm Alma.
There have been calls for years to replace aging Toncontin International Airport, whose short runway, primitive navigation equipment and neighboring hills make it one of the world's more dangerous international airports.
The airport was built on the southern edge of hilly Tegucigalpa in 1948 with a runway less than 5,300 feet (1,600 meters) long -- shorter than that of a small field such as Municipal Airport in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
The altitude of some 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) forces pilots to use more runway on landings and takeoffs than they would at sea level. And because of the hills, pilots have to make an unusually steep approach.
President Manuel Zelaya said he was talking to his Cabinet about moving flights to the U.S. military's Soto Cano air base about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of the capital.
In 1997, a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane overshot the runway at Toncontin and rolled 200 yards (180 meters) before bursting into flames on a major boulevard, killing three people aboard.
The worst crash associated with the airport came in 1989 when a Honduran airliner hit a nearby hill, killing 133 people.
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All About Honduras • Air Disasters
Tegucigalpa, Honduras. El vuelo 390 de la Aerolínea TACA se accidentó este 30 de mayo de 2008 en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Honduras. La aeronave Airbus 320 que llevaba 192 personas a bordo, entre pasajeros y tripulantes, cayó en un alud de tierra al salirse de la pista a las 9:45 hora local (15:45 GMT). El accidente ocurrió en medio de mal tiempo que azota dicho país causado por la tormenta tropical "Alma".
Se ha confirmado la muerte de Presidente del Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica, el nicaragüense Harry Brautigam.