MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – One of two runways closed after the fiery landing of a Dominican airliner at Miami International Airport reopened Friday afternoon, according to airport officials.
After crews moved the wrecked RED Air MD-82 jetliner from the south runway to the diagonal runway overnight Thursday night, officials were able to prepare the south runway for reopening, which took place at around 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Investigators will examine the wreckage in a new adjacent area.
The diagonal runway still needs additional repairs.
“The diagonal runway will remain closed until (Saturday) but that is more of a reliever runway, so we are at full capacity now,” airport spokesperson Greg Chin said Friday.
A total of 130 passengers and 10 crew members were on board the plane headed from Santo Domingo to Miami; 7 were injured in the crash landing.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that the plane experienced a collapse of its left main landing gear during landing. The plane’s black box and flight data recorder have been taken out and sent to Washington to extract crucial information about what went wrong.
A number of passengers recounted the terrifying landing in interviews with Local 10 News and ABC News.
The aircraft involved was 32 years old and was once owned by American Airlines before it was retired from service. It sat unused in the New Mexico desert for two years, but at some point the relatively-new RED Air acquired it.
The Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing are assisting with NTSB’s investigation and the Dominican Republic appointed a representative.
“(The plane) will eventually end up at a location on the north side of the airport, where it will remain until the NTSB says it can be demolished,” Chin said.