A RED Air flight suffered a landing gear collapse on the runway at Miami International Airport. Three suffered minor injuries.
Landing Gear Collapse at Miami Airport
On Tuesday, 21 June, a flight operated by Dominican Airline RED Air crashed at Miami Airport after its landing gear collapsed on the runway. The plane veered off runway 09 and came to a standstill on the turf before its right-hand wing caught fire. The blaze was quickly extinguished by the airport crew as passengers were evacuated via slides. Three people suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital.
RED Air flight L5-203 was arriving from Santo Domingo Airport and carrying 126 passengers. The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 with registration HI1064, touched down in Miami at 17:37 local time (21:37 GMT), whereupon it suffered technical difficulties.
The aircraft then went off course, swerving left off runways 09/27 and onto the green, then over runways 12/30 before coming to a stop in front of taxiway Q. The tower pressed the crash button and directed incoming flights to go around. Miami Emergency Services reported that they were at the scene of the crash.
Who is Red Air?
RED Air is a relatively new airline, launched in November 2021 as a joint venture between Venezuelan carrier LASER Airlines and Dominican ground handling company SERVAIR.
The airline operates a fleet of three MD-82 aircraft, and one MD-81, all previously owned by LASER Airlines. The aircraft involved in the crash was a 31-year-old MD-82, which planespotters.net have declared ‘damaged beyond repair’.
The airline, based in the Dominican Republic, aims to compete with other low-cost airlines on routes between the US and the Caribbean. South Florida has a large population of Dominican Americans, so it is a popular destination for the airline. The flight from the Dominican Republic to Miami takes roughly two hours.
Why not be honest about what this airlines aim is? It’s sole purpose is to allow Laser to avoid the US sanctions on Venezuela.