Passengers Hospitalized After Plane Fire At Fort Lauderdale Int'l Airport
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – They were supposed to be headed for Caracas, Venezuela. Instead, one injured passenger after another was taken to Broward health Medical Center following a plane fire at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport on Thursday.
By night, emergency room doctors had released 19 of the 21 total patients.
Doctors admitted the two most severely hurt people – one of them to the intensive care unit with unknown injuries.
The others left the hospital in varying degrees of injury. Some were in wheelchairs, crutches, casts and bandages.
They boarded an airport bus down the street.
One Spanish-speaking man told CBS4 everyone on that Boeing 767 was reborn Thursday.
He described what happened on the Boeing 767 as an explosion, then fire and smoke and suddenly everyone had to jump out.
The bus returned the released Dynamic Airways passengers back to the airport Thursday night to meet with airline representatives.
At one point after the fire, 14 rescue units were on scene treating two dozen passengers injured. They had to evacuate the Dynamic Airways plane through a slide and onto the runway when the left engine burst into flames.
Doctors said one of the passengers suffered a serious head injury after being knocked unconscious while running from the plane.
"The patient has significant injuries and will be admitted to the intensive care unit," said Dr. Ian Ressinoff of Broward Health Medical Center.
That passenger has since been listed in stable condition.
Once the passengers evacuated the plane, a triage was set up on the runway to treat the injured and determine who would be taken to the hospital.
"I saw seven of the patients today with minor injuries most of them were sustained by going down the ramp people piled up," said Dr. Julie Phillips of Broward Health Medical Center. "They were minor injuries. Sprains, abrasions, fractures in general everyone was nervous and shaken up, but no one complained of smoke inhalation."
The airport was partially reopened at 3:15 p.m. after being shutdown for about three hours.