"There was like smoke all over the place"
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- It was a frightening few minutes that must have seemed like hours for more than 100 people aboard a Boeing 767 jetliner.
The plane was about to take off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Caracas, Venezuela, when an engine burst into flames.
Passengers and crew raced to evacuate.
A cell phone captured huge black plumes of billowing smoke, as the plane's pilot frantically radioed for help.
"Engine's on fire. Engine's on fire," the pilot said.
"Engine is on fire. We are calling fire rescue right now," the air traffic controller replied.
Just minutes earlier, a pilot on an aircraft taxiing behind the plane, reported a fuel leak to air traffic control. "Hey, dynamic out of the left engine it looks like it is leaking a lot of. I think it's fuel. Yeah, it's fuel leaking out of the left engine."
"Yes sir. We copy. We will probably need to back to ramp," the pilot said.
All 101 people on board were evacuated quickly using emergency slides.
Camilla Diaz was in seat 1G. "I was completely asleep -- and when I woke up -- I was already hearing screams and people crying and I didn't know how to react."
17 people, including one child, suffered injuries and were taken to the hospital.
Passenger Andres Gallegos took pictures as he was leaving. He was frustrated by the crew's response. "It was pretty nerve wracking to know that the door wasn't opening, knowing something was on fire," he said.
David Magro was one of the last people to get off the plane. He said, "There was like smoke all over the place so we got out and started running to the grass as far west from the airplane as possible."
The airline has not responded to questions about passenger complaints, only saying that everyone was safely evacuated. As of tonight, the aircraft is still on the runway and firefighters are still monitoring it.
The airport has reopened today using the only other runway that is available.
Dynamic Airways has been flying for about five years.