Plane Bursts Into Flames After Crash Landing Caused By Gear Failure
The Red Air flight was arriving from the Dominican Republic when it skidded along the tarmac on its belly and ripped through a tower.
Lisa McLoughlin
A plane carrying more than 100 people caught fire after it was forced to crash land at Miami International Airport on Tuesday, 21 June, after its landing gear failed upon touchdown.
The Red Air flight was arriving from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, when it skidded along the tarmac on its belly and ripped through a communications tower before it came to a stop on the grass.
Video and images shared on social media showed the aircraft’s nose smashed to pieces as black smoke billowed from a fire burning on its left wing.
In the footage shared online, some of the plane’s 126 passengers and 11 crew members could be seen evacuating by walking along the plane's right wing and running away to safety.
Three people were taken to hospital to be treated for minor injuries after the plane touched down at 5.38pm (EST).
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Paola Garcia, who was travelling on the flight, told CBS Miami: “I thought I was going to die, actually. There was an old man next to me and I was hugging him. It was horrible.
“We were bumping from side to side and all the windows like break and then everything's fine. Then the people start running and running and I like jump and start running because there was fire and all that.”
Another passenger, Balo Delgado, told the outlet that their initial panic was quickly replaced by reassurance as he and his fellow travellers watched the fire crews at work.
He said: “Panic, almost panic. it was a terrible experience, actually, but like I said I feel safe.
“It happened like one minute and then you could see all the officers through the window doing their jobs.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident occurred after the jet's landing gear collapsed. Airport officials said in a tweet that the collapse of the front landing gear in the nose of the aircraft appeared to be the cause of the fire, Sky News reports.
The National Transportation Safety Board also posted on Twitter that a team would investigate the fire.
It was part of a fleet owned by Red Air, a discount airline founded just last year in the Dominican Republic.
A spokesperson for Miami Airport told MailOnline that flights were delayed due to the crash.
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