Jet's Landing Gear Catches Fire in Miami

A jet's landing gear caught fire on the runway at Miami International Airport after two tires blew out during landing, officials said. No one was injured, and the fire was quickly extinguished.

U.S. Airways Flight 431 was arriving from Charlotte, N.C., with 113 passengers and five crew members when it blew two tires on the runway shortly before noon, airline spokesman Morgan Durrant said.

A small fire ignited in one of the blown-out tires, Durrant said.

The passengers and crew escaped using inflatable slides from the plane's exits, then waited in a grassy area near the runway. Helicopter footage showed the flames extinguished and the plane surrounded by white foam.

Passenger Jenna Kettenburg, 25, of Trenton, N.J., said that the landing was normal at first but suddenly became rough.

"It was real jagged and shaky," she said. The plane's oxygen masks came down and passengers were told to evacuate on the slides.

Patrice White, 23, of Baltimore, said, "We didn't think it was that big of a deal," until she got off and saw the fire.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the Boeing 737 jet was built in 1989.

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