NTSB To Investigate Plane Fire Through The Weekend
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- An investigation is underway into why a plane caught fire at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators say they will be looking into everything from maintenance records to response time to answer the main question.
"We look at the airplane and try to figure how that airplane caught fire," said NTSB investigator Timothy LeBaron. "That's the big question."
Earlier, they met with officials from Dynamic Air. The plane now sits at a quiet corner of the airport as NTSB officials investigate it.
Broward Aviation Director Kent George explained investigators will carefully and methodically look at everything.
"They will be looking at maintenance records, talking with the people that worked on the aircraft, talking with the flight crews. There might even be some interviews with passengers later today," said George. "They have to be as thorough as possible, going thru all the records, going thru all the information. I'm going through the black box that's on the aircraft."
The investigation includes the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, and the operator of the plane Dynamic International Airways.
"The reason we do that is they've got a direct link to the maintenance records, back to the factory," said LeBaron.
According to CBS News, Dynamic Air's Chief Operating Officer said the plane underwent heavy maintenance back in June and that the plane is checked each night in Fort Lauderdale.
According to the FAA Service Difficulty Reports website, this aircraft, which has been in the Dynamic fleet for "four or five months," shows up seven times dating back to 2006.
As of October 6th, 2015, the plane has roughly 30,000 hours on it. CBS News Transportation Correspondent Kris Van Cleave said for an almost 30 year old long haul aircraft the 30,000 hours aren't a lot of air time.
Investigators will be working through the weekend and will start to look at maintenance records on Saturday.
As for the damage, the inside and outside of the plane are very different stories.
"Going inside the cabin, you can't tell there was a fire inside," said LeBaron.
One pilot said it looked like fuel was spilling from the aircraft just moments before take off but it has not been confirmed if it was fuel.
"We don't know at this point if it was fuel or not," said LeBaron.
There have also been reports that a flight attendant opened the emergency slide on the same side as the fire. The company said that employee may not have been aware where the fire was until opening the door.
All of this, as displaced passengers are trying to get to where they were going to.
As of Friday afternoon, the passengers were being given the choice to leave on a 4:30 p.m. flight or on Saturday or Sunday. An airport official also said the passengers were going to be reunited with their luggage.
Related: Plane Catches Fire At Fort Lauderdale Int'l Airport
NTSB officials said the airport is back and running at full capacity after it had been closed down the day before.
