Inbound flight from Dominican Republic catches fire upon landing at Miami International Airport

An inbound commercial jet inbound from Santo Domingo had a minor crash yesterday afternoon when its front landing gear burst upon touchdown at Miami International Airport.

Red Air Flight 203 took off at 3:30 p.m. and touched ground in Miami about 5:30 p.m. when the landing gear in the nose of the plane suddenly collapsed, Miami International Airport officials reported.

A large cloud of black smoke emanated from the jet and unto the runway, prompting authorities to rush to the scene where they successfully extinguished the fire in minutes.

Panicked passengers scrambled out through the jet’s emergency doors, and Among the 126 people who were flying abord the MD-82 jet, only three were transported to a nearby hospital and were treated for non-life threatening minor injuries.

"The landing gear of Red Air Flight 203, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, collapsed when the aircraft landed at Miami International airport around 6:10 p.m. local time today,” the Federal Aviation Administration reported. "The flight originated from Las Americas International airport in the Dominican Republic and was headed to Miami International Airport.”

"The FAA will investigate,” the U.S. regulator said.

Most of the passengers who came on the flight were of Venezuelan origin since the airline is widely used by Venezuelans who make a stopover in the Dominican Republic to come to the U.S., according to a report by Telemundo 51.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said a team of crash investigators would arrive Wednesday to further probe the situation.

"NTSB is sending a team of investigators to Miami following today’s gear collapse and runway excursion of an MD-82 jetliner at Miami International Airport. Investigators will arrive on scene tomorrow.”

Most of the passengers who came on the ship are of Venezuelan origin, since this airline is widely used by Venezuelans who make a stopover in the Dominican to come to the United States.