A plane carrying 126 passengers erupted into flames when its landing gear collapsed on the runway at Miami International Airport on Tuesday (June 21).
Miami-Dade aviation department spokesperson Greg Chin revealed that the incident took place when a Red Air flight arrived from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The plane touched down at 5:38PM- with fire crews quickly being dispatched at 5:39PM, WPLG, the Miami station affiliated with ABC News reported.
Per The Independent, three people received minor injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment, while the remaining passengers were transported from the site of the accident to the terminal.
Watch WPLG Local 10 news' coverage below:Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava landed on a separate flight from Philadelphia and quickly rushed to the scene in the aftermath. Cava later told WSVN: "What happened here is a miracle."
"Apparently a tire burst, and then it went back up and came back down, and the landing was so hard, that the entire landing apparatus was destroyed and the belly of the plane is on the ground," Cava added.
Paola Garcia, one of the 126 passengers on board the flight, spoke with CBS Miami about the incident and said: "I thought I was going to die, actually. There was an old man next to me and I was hugging him. It was horrible."
"We were bumping from side to side and all the windows like break and then everything's fine. Then the people start running and running and I like [to] jump and start running because there was fire and all that," Garcia added.
"We were bumping from side to side and all the windows like break and then everything's fine," she further explained. "Then the people start running and running and I like [to] jump and start running because there was fire and all that."
Another passenger, Yamil Elneser, reflected on the hard crash landing and said: "The wheel of the left side it blows away and we felt like the airplane go to the left side and it started shaking very, very hard and then the airplane went off the runway and we saw the flame."
Passenger Bob Delgado added: "Panic, almost panic. It was a terrible experience, actually, but like I said I feel safe."
According to CBS News, Aviation expert Scott Harrington said that it was a miracle more people weren't hurt in the plane crash.
"Absolutely, it seemed like, again [I'm] not exactly sure of the specifics of this flight, but it seemed like the pilots did a good job to keep it all in one piece. To get it stopped so the plane could be stopped in a position so rescue equipment can access the airplane," Harrington said.
"Sometimes, the rescue truck are heavy pieces of equipment. If they were on the grass and it was raining out recently, you'll get stuck in the mud. You want to have the airplane in the optimum position," he added.
