PASCO — Ten passengers and crew escaped from a small jet aircraft that crashed and caught fire while landing Tuesday morning at an airport in Pasco, Washington.
Ben Shearer, a Pasco Fire Department spokesperson, said the twin-engine Cessna Citation’s landing gear failed, causing it to skid down the runway and sparking a fire at around 7 a.m., The Tri-City Herald reported. Everyone on board exited the plane and firefighters extinguished the flames, officials said.
The jet was carrying surgical technicians and a registered nurse for the Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute, officials said, and had departed from Chehalis.
The aircraft’s burned-out frame could be seen surrounded by emergency vehicles on the Tri-Cities Airport’s main runway Tuesday morning. The Pasco airport terminal remained open and the airfield was back open by 10 a.m. with two flights experiencing delays because of the crash.