Fire Quenched On Frontier A321 At Vegas

Smoke in the cockpit was followed by fire on the landing gear on a Frontier A321

Airport firefighters had to douse flames that erupted from the right main gear on a Frontier Airlines A321 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Saturday. Fire and smoke roiled from the gear as it rolled out after a flight from San Diego about 4:20 p.m. The 190 passengers and seven crew remained onboard while the fire trucks poured water and foam on the undercarriage. They deplaned using airstairs shortly after.

During the flight, pilots issued a Mayday after detecting smoke on the flight deck. A passenger told local media the aircraft made a "hard landing" before the gear fire and the plane shook during the rollout. According to the Aviation Herald, there were also reports the pilots donned masks during the descent and that they were unable to transmit on the radio. The could hear ATC, however. They acknowledged instructions by hitting ident.

Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.