Apparently the landing gear at the nose collapsed during landing, and the plane veered off the runway, hit a tower and caught fire. The flames were extinguished using foam trucks even as the passengers were being evacuated who were scrambling for the exits and rushing down inflatable slides.

MIAMI (Florida), June 22: A passenger plane burst into flames while crash-landing at Miami International Airport at 5:30 pm on Tuesday. There were 126 passengers and 11 crew on board. Only three people were injured.

Something went wrong with the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 of Red Air, a new budget airline launched in 2021, based in Dominican Republic. Some said the flight L5203 arriving from the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, probably experienced collapse of the landing gear at the nose during landing. It was also reported it veered off the runway and skidded into the grass area between the runway and the taxiway, hit a tower and a building. The tower is seen twisted at the right wing which was in flames. Did the problem with the landing gear happen before or when it landed?

The flames were extinguished even as the passengers were being evacuated. Passengers were seen scrambling for the exits and rushing down inflatable slides.

The fuel spillage was mitigated. The fire rescue crew responded quickly and were able to douse the fire using foam trucks.

“The plane landed, 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,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who had just landed by another flight same time, told reporters.

"The plane was like jumping and jumping and jumping," a passenger told CNN.

The airline said the plane "had technical difficulties after landing at the Miami International Airport (MIA)."

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will inquire into the incident.

Miami International Runway 09 and 12 are currently closed.