- A Frontier Airlines plane appeared to lose a wheel after a “hard landing” in San Juan on Tuesday.
- One passenger told a Puerto Rican newspaper they were left “traumatized” by the incident.
- Frontier said it had offered passengers $500 vouchers and refunds for the flight.
Frontier Airlines said it had offered $500 vouchers and refunds to passengers following what it called a “hard landing” in Puerto Rico on Tuesday night.
Flight 3506 from Orlando briefly touched down at San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport before pilots performed a go-around due to an apparent mechanical issue.
Flight tracking data showed that the two-year-old Airbus A321neo then circled over San Juan several times before finally landing.
It returned for a second approach and landed safely at about 10:20 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
“Passengers deplaned on the taxiway and were bused to the terminal,” the FAA added.
Frontier said in a statement there were no injuries to passengers or crew, and that the incident was under investigation.
Video circulating on social media appeared to show a fire around the plane's wing as it came into land. An image of the aircraft on the tarmac also appears to show it missing a nose wheel.
"The problem was when we landed. When the pilot went to land, the drop was dramatic," Melani González Wharton, who said she was a passenger on the flight, told Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día.
"When we touched down, it was so strong that we jumped," she said. "The tire at the front of the plane broke. I don't know if the tire hit the left engine, which was where I was sitting. It sparked, and fire started to come out."
González Wharton added: "Inside, we were crying, children were shouting, people were praying. It was an unforgettable, horrible experience. I'm traumatized."