Miami

Passengers Claim Airline Negligence in Suit Over Fiery Plane Crash at MIA

The lawsuit filed Tuesday night claims negligence on the part of RED Air in the June 21 crash of Flight 203 at MIA

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A group of passengers are suing an airline over last month's fiery crash-landing of a plane at Miami International Airport.

The lawsuit filed earlier this week claims negligence on the part of RED Air in the June 21 crash of Flight 203 at MIA.

Attorneys with Goldberg and Rosen, which filed the lawsuit, held a news conference Friday to discuss their case.

"The terror is real, the psychological effect of this incident is real. Sitting in a plane thinking that your child is going to be burned alive right before your eyes or that the plane is going to explode is a very real damage," attorney Judd Rosen said. "We’re worried when we get on a plane about delays or missing our flight or missing our vacation, these families were worried about being burned alive."

Officials said the MD-82 jetliner was coming from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and carrying 130 passengers and 10 crew members when it landed at the airport and its landing gear collapsed.

Footage showed the plane skidding down the runway on its belly before catching fire, sending large plumes of black smoke into the air.

Three people were hospitalized and later released.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of multiple passengers from Miami-Dade, claims they suffered "severe, traumatic injuries" in the crash that include fractured bones, orthopedic injuries, spine damage and psychological injuries.

The suit claims the flight crew "failed to take action to evacuate passengers in a timely and safe manner, and chaos broke out as the terrified passengers rushed to free themselves through an exit door."

It also claims that the plane's landing gear "was prone to malfunctioning, based off several prior incidents involving the aircraft's landing gear breaking, cracking, not extending, structurally failing, or not functioning properly, as documented throughout the subject aircraft's service and maintenance logs."

NBC 6's Cherney Amhara gives the latest on what is known about the cause of the Red Air plane crash that took place at Miami International Airport.

The suit said the airline failed to hire pilots and first officers with "adequate experience, airmanship and skill," to safely fly the plane.

RED Air, a low-fare airline based in Santo Domingo, released a statement after the crash that said the flight had "technical difficulties."

"We would like to inform you that all 130 passengers and 10 crew members were evacuated and assessed according to the protocols established and all of the applicable due processes in these cases have been met," the airline's statement read. "The Investigative Commission of Aviation Accidents, body attached to the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute, along with the local authorities in the city of Miami have begun the pertinent investigations in order to determine the circumstances of the event. At RED Air we express our absolute solidarity with the passengers and crew of the aircraft."

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

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