3 injured during plane fire after landing gear collapses at MIA, officials say

FAA: Airliner’s landing gear collapsed

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – More than 100 passengers had to evacuate a plane after gear collapsed from its nose during landing and caused a fire on Tuesday at a Miami International Airport runway.

Three of the 126 people aboard the RED Air SRL 203 arriving from the Dominican Republic suffered minor injuries, according to Greg Chin, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.

Alfredo Machado, one of the RED Air SRL 203 passengers, told ABC News that he felt the plane was shaking and heard a loud noise during the landing.

“Something sounded like something broke or something gave up and the plane went down on the left side and started spinning and we went to the grass,” Machado said. “After that, we saw smoke and flames and we got out of the plane through the emergency exit on the window, on top of the wings, and then from the wing, down.”

A witness recorded a video showing some of the passengers were screaming and crying as dark smoke billowed. Firefighters quickly shot a white foam to extinguish the flames.

“Fire crews arrived to find one of the wings of the aircraft on fire,” said Erika Benitez, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department.

The National Transportation Safety Board identified the plane as an MD-82 jetliner. The Federal Aviation Administration reported the McDonnell Douglas airliner’s landing gear collapsed. Chin said flights were delayed and a bus took the passengers and crew to the MIA terminal.

A surveillance camera showed dark smoke on Tuesday near Northwest 57th Avenue in Miami-Dade County. (FDOT)

The flight arrived at MIA from Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo’s Punta Caucedo, according to the FAA. It departed at 3:36 p.m., and it landed at 5:38 p.m., 42 minutes late, according to FlightAware.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue started to dispatch units at 5:39 p.m., the active calls record shows. A surveillance camera facing the airport showed dark smoke rising shortly after 5:45 p.m., near the Dolphin Expressway at Northwest 57th Avenue.

After extinguishing the fire, firefighters also worked to contain the fuel spillage. By 9:15 p.m., MDFR had dispatched 45 units to deal with the plane at MIA. The NTSB announced that a federal team will continue the investigation on Wednesday.

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Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Emily Hales contributed to this report.


About the Author
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The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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