An air traffic controller told the pilot “a lot of fluid” was leaking from his left engine and then urgently said the engine had caught fire and that he was dispatching firefighters, according to an audio recording posted by WSVN.
Airline officials said the onboard fire extinguishing fluid was not enough to put out the fire.
The airport closed briefly after the fire. The south runway reopened Thursday afternoon, and the north runway reopened Thursday night. As a result of the fire, 226 flights were delayed and 43 were canceled, airport spokesman Gregory Meyer said in an email late Thursday.
Dynamic began servicing Caracas in July, after several other major airlines ended or slashed service to Venezuela over the government’s refusal to pay an estimated $4 billion the carriers say they have trapped in the country.
For Venezuelans hoping to travel abroad, the options have been severely reduced to little-known carriers such as Dynamic or domestic carriers, which due to the country’s economic crisis, have struggled to import replacement parts.
Airline officials said they’ve already started reviewing records for the crew and the plane, which was last inspected in June and had a new engine with less than 200 hours of flight time. Nine crew members were onboard — more than required — and were a very experienced team, which helped evacuating passengers quickly and seamlessly, Dodson said.
“It’s just a very unusual event. Something malfunctioned. We’re not aware of what happened,” he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a four-person team to Fort Lauderdale to investigate. Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration, engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, Boeing and Dynamic will also take part.
NTSB online records show only one previous accident involving Dynamic. In 2011, a Dynamic flight attendant suffered serious injuries when a flight encountered moderate turbulence. The plane was not damaged and landed safely.
