US investigators arrived at Miami airport on Wednesday where a Dominican Red Air plane landed on Tuesday due to a landing gear problem, causing a fire and evacuating about 100 people, including three who were injured.
Images transmitted by US media show the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 that came from the Dominican Republic, across the tarmac, half in the grass, its nose smashed, passengers hastily leaving the cabin on one side, black smoke visible on the other .
A team of investigators from the US Transportation Security Agency (NTSB) arrived at the site Wednesday morning, according to a statement.
The device black boxes have been recovered and will be analyzed. Investigators, who have spoken with rescue teams, will be able to access the interior of the device once it has emptied of fuel.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane had a left main landing gear collapse while on runway 9, veering off the runway and coming to rest in a grassy area. Then a fire broke out “on the right side” of the plane.
“Three patients have been transferred to nearby hospitals,” the Miami Fire Department said earlier, adding that it had “reduced fuel leakage.”
Red Air, a small, low-cost carrier based in the Dominican Republic that launched in November, said on Twitter that flight L5-203 “experienced technical difficulties” when it landed around 5:45 p.m.
It indicates that 130 passengers and 10 crew members were evacuated from the plane.
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