MIAMI (WHDH) - Passengers aboard a flight landing at Miami International Airport described the fiery crash that followed when their plane’s landing gear collapsed.
The Red Air flight 203 from the Dominican Republic was coming in for a landing Tuesday evening, June 21, when the airline said the plane experienced technical difficulties. The MD-82 jetliner carrying over 120 passengers proceeded to grind against the runway, catching fire in the process.
“I thought we were going to die,” said Camila DeStefano, who was flying into MIA with her cousin. “It was violently shaking… (I) closed my eyes and I was holding my cousin’s hand really hard. I was telling her that I was really scared.”
DeStefano, along with cousin Anabella Perez and the rest of the passengers, were able to evacuate the flight as black plumes of smoke rose from the plane. Perez said she blacked out as she headed for the jetliner’s emergency slide.
“I just fell off the plane,” Perez said, adding that the next thing she knew, she was on the grass near the runway, hearing that the plane was going to explode.
“I was just dragging myself with my hands, trying to drag myself through the grass, just trying to get away from the plane,” she said.
The jetliner did not explode, with crews able to extinguish the flames and ensure all passengers and crew were evacuated. However, Perez was one of several passengers who suffered injuries following the crash, and is reportedly receiving treatment for a torn ACL, meniscus and fractured tibia.
The National Transportation Safety Board later said in a release that several groups arrived and started investigating the crash the following day. The agency reported that it was able to recover the plane’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders.
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