RED Air Flight 203

RED Air Flight 203 (L5203/REA203) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to Miami International Airport by RED Air. On June 21, 2022, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft operating the service suffered a left landing gear collapse and runway excursion, causing the left wing of the aircraft to impact an antenna structure, followed by a subsequent fire on the right side of the airplane. The incident caused four people to be hospitalized with minor injuries.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the accident was a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 with the registration of HI1064 and serial number 53027. The aircraft was transferred to RED Air, a subsidiary of LASER Airlines, in February 2021.
Passengers and crew
There were 140 occupants on board the accident flight: 130 passengers and 10 crew members. Airport officials reported that all of them survived. The local fire rescue authorities reported that four people suffered minor injuries and were sent to the hospital.
The flight crew consisted of 58-year-old Captain José Darriba, out of 14,388 total flight hours, 1,400 were on the MD-80; During landing, the aircraft's left main landing gear collapsed, causing the aircraft's left wing to scratch the runway. Just before the aircraft came to a full stop, the right landing gear and nose landing gear also collapsed, resulting in damage to the aircraft's nose and a fire on the right wing. Firefighters found fuel leaking from the aircraft when they arrived on scene. The aircraft had also reportedly collided with a communication tower and a small building before catching fire. Passengers began evacuating the plane about 5 seconds after the aircraft stopped and fled with their personal belongings.
Footage of the incident
The scene was captured by Miami International Airport's CCTV camera Two videos were subsequently released showing scenes onboard the aircraft during the landing and when the passengers were evacuating the aircraft. The footage was recorded by one of the passengers onboard. The first video shows the aircraft's landing and the unusual vibrations before the left landing gear collapsed. The collapse of the left landing gear was heard at the end of the first video. The second video shows the passenger who recorded the footage exiting the aircraft. Another smartphone video was released, showing the moment inside the plane from touch down on the runway until the stop of the aircraft. This video shows not just what the other onboard video shows, but also the passengers' reactions during the incident.
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) arrived on scene the following day and began an investigation. A preliminary report issued by the NTSB cited four minor injuries to passengers, Both flight recorders (data and voice) were recovered and their data was successfully downloaded by the NTSB.
An investigation docket of the accident was opened by NTSB on July 31, 2023.

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