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Plane catches fire during landing at Fla. airport

Two people aboard the plane were not injured after the plane caught fire and its landing gear collapsed

Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The left engine on a twin-engine plane caught fire and its landing gear collapsed when it arrived at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport Wednesday morning, local and federal authorities said.

The airport tower summoned Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue’s fire truck that is stationed at the airfield to the blaze on a runway, and the fire was extinguished with foam, Battalion Chief Gregory May said.

Two people aboard the plane, a Beech BE 18, were not injured in the crash, May said. Their names were not released.

The aircraft has its own hangar at the air field that is at 6000 NW 21st Ave. and West Cypress Creek Road. It is used to fly cargo to the Bahamas, and was returning from the islands Wednesday when it crashed, Assistant Airport Manager Carlton Harrison said.

The plane’s owner is registered with the Federal Aviation Administration as William B. Chase, 71, of West Des Moines, Iowa. He holds flight instructor and airline transport pilot certificates, according to the FAA’s online records.

Chase did not reply to messages left on his cellphone.

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