Clapping when a flight lands may be a fading tradition, but it’s fully deserved some days. Passengers on a Frontier Airlines flight certainly had a reason for applause on Saturday after the flight from San Diego trailed flames from its landing gear while landing at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. All 190 passengers and seven crew members safely made it to the gate. It’s unclear how the fire started. The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating the incident.
Frontier Flight 1326’s pilots declared an emergency while approaching the runway, CNN reports. They told air traffic control that there was smoke in the cockpit. The Clark County Fire Department prepared for whatever descended from the sky. Footage posted on social media shows the Frontier Airbus A321neo on fire as it landed. Specifically, flames were coming from the main landing gear and the tires blew out during touchdown. Firefighters quickly reached the aircraft once it stopped to extinguish the blaze.
The incident became a headache for other passengers at Harry Reid International Airport. The FAA imposed a ground stop at the airport for over three hours, lifting the restriction at 7:00 p.m. local time. Frontier’s status as a low-cost carrier likely had nothing to do with the fire. Maintenance across every major airline has been questioned over the past year. United Airlines diverted to transpacific flights just after takeoff after a wheel fell off one Boeing 777’s landing gear and fluid started gushing out of another 777.
