Report on the details of the fiery emergency landing plan after departure from San Diego

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A Frontier flight from San Diego to Las Vegas landed in flames and smoke about a month ago. No one was hurt, but the 200 passengers on board were left with no explanation as to what went wrong, including Normal Heights’ Edith Kaufman.

“It was a terrible experience,” Kaufman said.

ABC 10News first spoke with Kaufman a few days after the incident. 10News reporter Perla Shaheen spoke with her Wednesday, and she says she’s still traumatized.

“The trauma and stress of this accident was compounded by the fact that there was absolutely no connection,” Kaufman said.

A new preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board provides new details about what happened. It shows a fan designed to cool electrical equipment that has stopped working.

“When that fan fails, if it fails badly, it smokes and gives off that pungent smell,” said former San Diego commercial pilot Joe Graham.

Flight attendants are quoted as saying the smell was similar to that of burning rubber and plastic. Kaufman wore a mask to block it.

“I wasn’t surprised to see an electrical problem because we could smell the exhaust and it smelled like an electrical problem,” Kaufman said.

The report said the plane’s systems had begun to degrade. The captain was unable to locate the source of the odor and took fire prevention measures. This includes turning off some electrical systems and landing the aircraft without an autopilot or anti-skid mechanisms.

“When you’re landing a plane at 160 mph, you can’t rely on your own braking,” Graham said. “So there’s a big electrically driven system called anti-skid. If that doesn’t work, then you have to rely on your own touch.”

However, according to the report, the captain did not pay attention to how hard he applied the brakes. Seconds after touching down on the runway, the plane’s tires exploded – smoke and fire erupted. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, allowing passengers to disembark using the stairs. It is not yet known what caused the fire.

“I think we’re seeing more and more problems with planes and airlines, and that responsibility should not be taken lightly,” Kaufman said.

Kaufman says he’s worried about flying again and hopes to get more answers in the Safety Council’s final report. The NTSB is still investigating the incident. 10News reached out to Frontier Airlines for a statement, but said they cannot comment on an active investigation.