FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Venezuela-bound passenger jet preparing to take off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport caught fire Thursday, causing fleeing passengers to escape the cabin on emergency slides.
There were 101 passengers and crew aboard the Dynamic International Airways Boeing 767; 15 were injured and taken to local hospitals, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles said.
One person endured burns that were not life-threatening, while the rest had bumps, bruises, sprains or were feeling the stress of the experience, he said.
The flight, No. 405, was bound for Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas. An aircraft taxiing behind the Dynamic jet reported that fuel was leaking from it before the fire began, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said.
Firefighters sprayed foam on the blaze, which began around 12:30 p.m.
All flights were suspended at 1:45 p.m., and airport spokesman Gregory Meyer estimated that several hundred flights would be delayed, affecting air traffic “in a domino effect” along the eastern seaboard
Ninety-minutes later, the airport reopened its south runway to allow air traffic to resume. The north runway remained closed.
Passengers were bused to Terminal Four to a family assistance center, Meyer said.
They left behind the white jet and its charred left wing and fuselage. The tarmac was wet with melting foam.
Esther Summer, 72, of Boca Raton was in the terminal and waiting to fly Southwest Airlines to Hartford, Conn. when she saw the Dynamic jet ablaze on the tarmac.
“The bottom of the plane was in flames,” Summer said. “That burned itself out and the smoke just plumed. People were coming down the slides.”
Summer said she was impressed with the emergency evacuation.
“They cleared that plane beautifully and quickly,” she said.
Because of the potential for disaster with an aircraft fire, the FAA won’t certify an airliner unless a full load of volunteer passengers can evacuate within 90 seconds while half of the available exits are blocked.
After studying several actual aircraft fires, the National Transportation Safety Board found that many passengers delay their exits in order to grab carry-on items, fearing they’ll lose money, wallets or credit cards.
The Boeing 767 that caught fire was manufactured in 1986 and was one of the earliest versions of that airliner.
Thursday’s fire appears to be the airline’s first serious accident, National Transportation Safety Board records show.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has a good safety record that is more than a half-century long.
Thursday’s accident was one of the few serious incidents at the air field, which has not seen a fatal airliner crash on or near it since commercial airline service began there in 1959.
The fire was also the most serious blaze there since May 1972, when an Eastern Airlines DC-9 crash-landed on a runway during a thunderstorm. The jet broke apart and into flames. None of the six passengers or four crew members aboard was seriously injured.
Although Dynamic operates the 150-ton jet, it is leased from KMW Leasing of Salt Lake City, the registered owner, according to FAA records.
Such an arrangement is common in the industry.
Dynamic International Airways said in an emailed statement that its flight crew became aware of an engine problem, shut it down and began evacuation procedures.
“Safety of our passengers and crew members is the first priority of Dynamic International Airways,” the statement said.
The airline said it was arranging for transportation and accommodations for passengers whose trips were delayed because of the fire. It expected to resume its flight schedules on Friday.
Dynamic International Airways, which is headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., began flights in July between Caracas and Fort Lauderdale. About 85,000 people of Venezuelan descent live in South Florida.
Dynamic started flying in 2009 and calls itself a world-wide carrier. It also takes passengers to New York and Guyana, Orlando and Brazil and Hong Kong.
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