2 plane crash survivors back home
by Dorie Turner
Associated Press Writer
August 20, 2010 12:00 AM | 212 views | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend | print
ATLANTA - Family members of a Georgia couple injured in a plane crash in Colombia said Thursday that the pair has arrived home.

Don and Cathy Henderson returned to their LaGrange home Thursday afternoon to a gathering of family and friends, said Don Henderson's mother, Lillian. They were among 130 people who survived Monday's crash while the jet was trying to land on San Andres, an island off the coast of Colombia.

Lillian Henderson said her son and his wife are scratched and bruised and lost teeth in the accident, but are otherwise fine. The couple had traveled to the island for a two-week vacation to celebrate Cathy Henderson's retirement from teaching.

"We know it was God's will that they be safe," Lillian Henderson said. "They are very fortunate to be alive."

Meanwhile, another Georgia couple in the crash, David and Carolina Bellino of Jefferson, are still hospitalized in Bogota, Colombia. Tim Tipton, a pastor at the Bellinos' church in Flowery Branch, said David Bellino underwent surgery Thursday on his back, which was broken in the crash.

Carolina Bellino is scheduled for back surgery today, he said. Tipton said that Carolina Bellino is about seven weeks pregnant, but doctors say the baby is healthy.

"They are anticipating them being in the hospital in Bogota in another week," Tipton said. "They won't be home and back in Jefferson for two more weeks."

In an interview with NBC's "Today Show" on Tuesday, David Bellino described the crash: there was a loud noise before he lost consciousness. When he came to, Bellino said he opened the emergency exit, climbed onto the wing and pulled his wife through.

"I walked about 15 feet as fast as I could and my legs gave out," Bellino told NBC. "My wife said, 'No, we got to go. It's going to blow up.'"

Of the 131 people on board the Aires airline Boeing 737 jetliner, only one person - a 68-year-old woman who is believed to have had a heart attack - died in the crash.
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