22 June, 2022

Investigation ongoing into MD-82 crash in Miami

Photo  Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/TNS
Investigators are looking into the causes of a plane crash in Miami that saw an MD-82 from Red Air come to a halt with a crumpled nose and fire under one of its wings.

The jet had arrived from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Tuesday with 137 people on board when its nose gear failed and remarkably all the passengers and crew escaped without serious injury. According to local reports, three were taken for medical evaluation with minor conditions.

Many videos have been shared on social media which capture the aged aircraft skidding along the side of the runway, its wing colliding with communications equipment and passengers evacuating via the rear and overwing exits on one side f the aircraft. 

The airport fire service reached the stricken plane within 2 minutes and dowsed the flames with foam before helping with the assistance of passengers that had run onto the airfield.




Some reports have recorded passengers and witnesses as saying that the aircraft came in with a hard landing, which burst a tyre on the nose gear before it collapsed.  Other passengers reported that the aircraft was jumping and jumping and jumping down the runway, with many cabin windows breaking before it came to a halt. 

Hector Dejesus, A 36-year-old mechanic from Red Air spoke to the Miami Herald saying first it looked like pilot error and then describing it as  “hard landing” - “I suppose it was a hard landing. We do maintenance all the time. I suppose it was that,” he said, “I’m in shock. I would see things like this in the air force.”

Miami Airport used social media to warn other passengers of the incident, which caused so minor disruption to other flights. – “Red Air #203 from Santo Domingo had its landing gear in the nose of the plane collapse, which seems to have caused a fire. MiamiDadeFire responded & extinguished the fire. Some flights have been delayed as a result. Please follow up with your airline for the latest flight info.”

The National Transportation Safety Board have an investigation team now in Miami and are currently assessing the conditions at the time of the crash and the aircraft.



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