IT’S now nearly a week since American Airlines Flight 331 crashed on landing at the Norman Manley International Airport, but Jamaicans are still giving thanks for the miracle that saved all 154 lives on board.

The investigation into the cause or causes is now nearing its end and we await the conclusions.

We are told by Mr Oscar Derby, director general of Jamaica’s Civil Aviation Authority, that investigators are probing “every possible factor … We are leaving no stones unturned”.

Hopefully investigators will remain as objective as possible without undue indulgence in the blame game which is always a temptation when varying interests are involved.

Ultimately, the lessons learnt from Tuesday night’s disaster can be invaluable not just for American Airlines and Jamaica’s aviation authorities but for the international aviation industry going forward.

The reasons for the crash apart, there must also be a thorough unearthing of the facts surrounding the response. There was clearly plenty of heroism and good luck. But there are also worrying suggestions that the apparatus involving information flow and emergency response was not as efficient, swift and smooth as it should have been.

Though there have been aviation disasters here before, such happenings are not routinely associated with Jamaica. So it’s not impossible that some level of complacency may have crept into the emergency response system despite the fact that Tuesday night’s incident came just eight months after a failed highjack attempt on an international airliner in Montego Bay.

If indeed there was any level of complacency, we expect that all of that will now be through the window.

Obviously, it will be incumbent on the local authorities to ensure that any flaws or weaknesses are speedily corrected, regardless of the cost.

We would be at fault were we to fail to recognise the stories of heroism as recounted in yesterday’s Sunday Observer. None more extraordinary than that of Jamaica Urban Transit Company bus driver Miss Annette Howard who just happened to be in the vicinity on her final trip when the plane ran off the runway, through the perimetre fencing, across the road before coming to a shuddering stop within feet of the Caribbean Sea.

In a wondrous piece of good fortune, Miss Howard’s bus was far enough away to avoid the accident but close enough for her to respond to first instincts and help transport the frightened and helpless passengers to safety.

There were clearly several other heroes – the identities of some we will never know. Enough for us to endorse the comment of sergeant of police, Mr Mark Harris, who was part of the late night rescue operation and witnessed at first hand the better side of human nature. Said he: “I feel that, despite all the crime in Jamaica, based on what I saw at the site of the plane crash, there is hope for Jamaica and we can make it work if we just work together.”