Passengers recall terrifying landing as Frontier plane catches fire

Passengers were left feeling uneasy after a Frontier Airlines plane caught fire at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Saturday.

“I noticed something weird, but I’m not sure what happened,” said passenger José Mena.

“We are a little shaken by the theft. The last thing we expected was to land in Vegas and be surrounded by fire engines, you know? When we landed, it was a very hard landing and the plane was shaken,” said Kevin Joseif.

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Mena said passengers were confused, saying they were not informed of the situation.

“Honestly, I thought we were going to explode because we saw the fire and we didn’t know why,” Mena said.

“Before we even landed, you could see them (the firefighters) on the ground. It was a little weird that they were on the tarmac with their lights on. I thought something was wrong, I didn’t think that it was our plane,” Joséif said. “I also don’t think the crew themselves really knew what was going on, so we stayed put until they told us to get out of the plane. I’m actually a firefighter, so The fact that they only put a little water in told me something was wrong with the brakes or the wheels.”

Inside the plane, Mena said passengers could feel the heat.

“There was a child crying right now,” Mena said. “The temperature, I think it was 100 degrees.”

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Frontier said in a statement that pilots detected smoke and declared an emergency at 3:15 p.m. as the plane was landing. The airline added that 190 passengers and seven crew members were on board and no injuries were reported. Frontier noted that customers on board the plane will receive a refund.

Joseif, however, said the experience scared his family and they didn’t know if they would get on a plane soon.

“My whole family is shaken. We’re talking about getting in a van and going home because we don’t want to fly again after this,” he said.