An MD-82 of Dominican airline Red Air left the runway at Miami International Airport after landing on Tuesday, causing a partial fire on the aircraft. Despite the severity of the accident, all 140 occupants managed to leave the jet without serious injuries.
According to an initial statement from the NTSB, the McDonnell Douglas jet (currently part of Boeing) had a landing gear collapse.
Camera recordings show the aircraft at high speed on landing and smoke billowing from the main landing gear. Soon after, the MD-82 leaves the runway until it stops on a grassy part, when a fire starts on the right side of the plane.
🇺🇸 — VIDEO UPDATE: The moment the Red Air plane carrying 126 passengers crash landed earlier at Miami international airport. As reported, only 3 people were transported to the hospital and are being treated for minor injuries.
— Belaaz News (@TheBelaaz) June 22, 2022
Passengers exited the jet through the left side emergency windows as fire engines approached the aircraft to contain the blaze.
Flight L5 203 had departed Santo Domingo at 3:36 pm and landed in Miami at 5:38 pm. Red Air’s MD-80 is one of three owned by the airline, all of which are quite old.
The aircraft with registration HI1064 entered service with American Airlines in 1990, where it flew until 2015. In 2017 it was transferred to the Venezuelan airline LASER and since February 2021 it has flown for Red Air.
