Frontier PLANE IS ON FIRE after Landing at Las Vegas! | "We'll evacuate on the Runway!"

05/OCT/2024
Frontier Airbus A321 performing flight from San Diego to Las Vegas was descending when the pilots declared an emergency due to heavy smoke in the cockpit and having issues to communicate with Air Traffic Control.
Video footage courtesy of Tyler Herrick! Thanks for sharing.
FULL ATC VIDEOS AVAILABLE
ATC RADAR [L30] - Sector F • ATC RADAR [L30] (Secto...
ATC RADAR [L30] - Sector T • ATC RADAR [L30] (Secto...
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Audio source: www.liveatc.net/

[@VilmarHillow]

The controller handled the situation calmly and professionally. Props to him and the pilots!

[@VASAviation]

That Approach controller was legendary!

[@joshilini2]

@@VASAviation Care to make a pinned comment on the comms once the aircraft had landed?

[@stimpsjd]

@@VASAviationhe picked up that the tower controllers message might not have been heard and did the relay too.

[@njebarr]

I assume a lot of silences have been edited out but those pilots were in an insanely high workload situation dealing with a multiple failures, uncomfortable masks, fire, briefing the cabin, setting up for an approach. That controller was a lot. Would have swallowed up a lot of capacity just constantly being interrupted when you’re trying to do something and then having to get back to where you were. Everyone wants to be helpful, sometimes the best thing you can do is let the crew deal with an emergency. They’ll call you when they need you.

[@daltonschumaker6765]

@@njebarrwithout being able to transmit I feel like you’ve got to at least try to give an abundance of information. They really can’t call when they need since they wouldn’t be able to communicate what their need is.

[@mkkm945]

Superbly managed with the IDENT as a backup. My heart sank when I head "radar contact lost" and I knew they landed safely. Can only imagine what ATC must have been feeling. Great work and proof that flying is still ridiculously safe even with a fire.

[@VASAviation]

With a suspect of smoke = fire onboard I would think for the worst at that point. Fire can burn you out in seconds. Thankfully the transponder reply returned shortly after.

[@vlieg-piet]

Just what I thought! Emergency airplane with smoke in the cockpit and than no more contact, ouch!

[@aeternusdoleo4531]

Transponder outage plus radio outage... Suggests to me they had something shorting out in their communications systems. Probably popped a fuse and forced the transponder to go to battery, which caused it to be out briefly. Just guesses, but it fits the sequence of events.

[@jimandmandy]

I always thought IDENT on my transponder was useless. Never used it. This changed my mind.

[@ace00007]

@@jimandmandy makes your target flash brightly on their screens

[@dawsum11]

That was one hell of a calm controller. Amazing job by everyone involved.

[@nik94492]

"Frontier1326 IDENT obseerrved" Im in trance

[@savagecub]

Calm ??????? What the hell does he have to lose ?

[@1450JackCade]

​@@savagecub You see, most humans have a reverence for human life. And the thought of not doing everything they can to save lives is very stressful for them because they care. This might not be something you understand, but non-sociopaths do.

[@noob.168]

panicking is what gen z would do. tiktok gen has no patience.

[@cindysavage265]

As I posted (funny comment on Blancolirio) ATC “I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue”

[@SimNico]

Airbus pilot here. In case of smoke the checklist directs us to try and isolate the source by switching the power off on one side then the other, this is probably what led to the loss of radar contact for ATC (active transponder turned off until the pilots switched to the other one).

[@christerry1773]

Thank for the info. How does that help isolate though?

[@TheProPilot]

​@@christerry1773because if you cut power to half the airplane and the smoke dissipates, you found the source and leave it unpowered.

[@N734NJ]

Yeah, but they ought to have primary radar only, but they are definitely losing the data block

[@chrisf2072]

Can confirm this is exactly what happened.

[@christerry1773]

@@TheProPilot would that include the essential bus? Curious how power would be cut to those systems but the flight control computers and actuators remain powered.

[@Kevin-uh4km]

I was on that flight with 7 of my family members. Crazy experience, no one said a word about what was going on in the plane. Thankful for our pilot getting us down safely.

[@Bigmoney703]

That must have been so scary sitting there not evacuating while the fire trucks are spraying it down

[@leneyoungblood4017]

Me and my oldest daughter where onboard. We have really bad back pain

[@leneyoungblood4017]

I said to my daughter I think we might explode

[@Dstew57A]

@@leneyoungblood4017yeah looked like a great landing considering

[@hundiraisk]

Aviate, navigate, communicate ... you were on the bottom of the list, they had hands full to get down safely for you to write this comment. No offence.

[@robertbutsch1802]

Passenger interviews indicate that there was no smoke in the cabin. Some said they didn’t know anything was wrong until they landed and saw emergency vehicles congregating on the plane. Could have been an electrical fire confined to the flight deck. That approach controller was absolutely Hollywood cool.

[@leneyoungblood4017]

We smeller smoke and the crew though someone had smoked in the toilet first

[@angelinasouren]

Someone should buy him a drink. When radar contact was lost, he feared the worst for a moment. How could he not? He sounded so elated/relieved when they were able to ident. And it was a good day for saving the passengers and the crew. No bees involved. (If you don't know what I am going on about, I think the channel is called Texas Bee Works.)

[@kcgunesq]

Given that the engine was on fire, I'm guessing that it wasn't confined to the flight deck. Unless you mean the smoke. But that doesn't make sense if you are discussing an electrical fire.

[@robertbutsch1802]

@@kcgunesqThat may be the case. Doesn’t really explain passenger recollections that everything seemed normal till after touchdown.

[@DrDeuteron]

Flight deck. 😂😂😂😂 Come on now, just sit it.

[@DrDeuteron]

Legend has it red dog 40 is still waiting to roll.

[@Angelum_Band]

Red dog 40 dating White cat 20.

[@JaviR6357]

*KshH This is Red Dog 40! You saID LeGEnd has what? How COPY? Over *kShh

[@A321LR]

Looking at the photos you can see the RAT was deployed on the belly. This leads me to believe they were in ELEC EMER CONFIG which was done as a result of running the checklist for SMOKE / FIRE / FUMES event. That checklist under certain circumstances will ask to isolate the Generators which may be the source of the Smoke or Fire and have you deploy the RAT for emergency hydraulics and electrics. Things to note…Only transponder 1 operates so that is likely why a brief radar contact loss for a moment. Also COM 1 only. Some issues with the landing in ELEC EMER include No Reverse Thrust, Loss of Nose wheel steering, loss of many spoilers, and brake pressure needs to be monitored and applied very carefully not to exceed 1,000 psi. This would likely be why both brakes locked up on landing and the tires subsequently blew. If in ELEC EMER due to Smoke / Fire the checklist does ask to bring a generator back on a few miles before landing and then to turn it off after stopped. It’s a long checklist when you are worried about being on fire.

[@gcorriveau6864]

I'm guessing that this landing config also means that the anti-skid is U/S? Explaining, perhaps, the tire/gear failures and fires from locked manual braking? TBD I guess.

[@BruceGinkel]

Every checklist is a long checklist when your on fire lol

[@NicolaW72]

Thank you very much for this information!

[@omgsrsly]

I don't know what the exact definition of a 'radar contact' is, but the transponder signals a plane is actively transmitting and the radar return signal of an actual radar station are two different things. The latter one is independent from the aircraft. So was it really missing on the ATC's monitors or how is the information displayed to them?

[@intelfx86]

​@@omgsrsly Could be an area of poor (primary) radar returns, or too much clutter, or something along these lines. The 7110.65 is not specifying the exact definition of a "radar contact" in terms of primary/secondary radar, either :-)

[@darby5987]

Everything was pretty well spot on until the very end. First ATC told ARFF several times that they had no radio communication with the aircraft yet ARFF kept asking them for information that required radio contact. Radio communication was finally established. Then the pilots were almost begging for ARFF to stop transmitting so they could run their checklists. But ARFF kept interrupting them by repeating information they had already transmitted. ARFF also parked one or more vehicles in positions that blocked the evacuation slides. The pilots could not have evacuated their passengers and cabin crew on the slides in the required 90 seconds had it become necessary. However, based on what the pilots observed inside the aircraft they decided to evacuate on the runway. ARFF, who was not inside the aircraft, then talked the pilots out of evacuating and instead wait for the air stairs for vague reasons seemed to be more convenience related than for safety. On 19-AUG-1980 Saudia Flight 163 had an onboard fire. On landing the pilots decided not to immediately evacuate on the runway. Everyone died. There are some training issues that need to be addressed at LAS airport because it started sounding a bit like a dangerous Charlie Foxtrot at the end. It will be interesting to see what NTSB's conclusion will be in the upcoming report.

[@canadave]

Yeah 100% agreed. ARFF should never place a vehicle in a spot where an emergency slide might deploy. That single act (along with talking about putting stairs into place) confused the pilots, held up the evacuation, and could've been deadly had there been an actual fire. The pilots had already said they wanted to evacuate on the runway--that should've been ARFF's cue to accommodate that plan.

[@jimw1615]

Aviation injury data shows it is safer to evacuate using airstairs than the slides, if time permits. The smoke seemed to be isolated to the cockpit and the cabin was clear of any smoke.

[@benv5812]

Comm issues yes.... ARFF extendable arm would have been extended to spray the engine/gear area. Only block one door, at least 5 other doors available. If you use the slides, people will get hurt, happens every time. If it's safe to use the stairs, better option.

[@jackielinde7568]

Yes, it's safer to evacuate using airstairs over slides, so long as the situation permits waiting for the airstairs to arrive. Airstairs aren't safer if you have to wait for them to get into position and the aircraft is on fire. Also, we don't know what the pilots saw, heard, and knew at the time. If they had smoke in the cockpit and the main gears were reporting excessive heat, they may have thought the aircraft was on fire. Hense why they might order an evacuation using the slides now instead of waiting for air stairs to show up. We know after the video the pilots had time to wait for the airstairs, but the information they had at the time and especially their checklists may have said otherwise. I'm not going to criticize the pilots for wanting to use the slides to clear out the plane. The NTSB can decide what the situation was like in the cockpit and if the pilots made the right calls or not. As far as LAS AARF... They didn't sound like they were on top of the situation. But again, that's NTSB's turf to find out what happened there and what could be done to improve things.

[@JoeDFWAviation]

I was so wondering why they weren’t using the slides…..

[@chris.geringverdiener]

Jesus. That ATC was so cool, I bet he’s warming up when he touches a glacier.

[@jamesogden7756]

High stress environments are weird. You drop all the things that don't matter and work with the details you can manage. Everything else falls away. This was super smooth of the ATC. Noncombative, no argument, just worked the problem with the information he got. 🫡

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

He is who you call when you want to prevent another glacier from melting and vanishing forever. ;)

[@Subraid]

Chuck Norris calls this ATC when he has to cool down...

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

That's the most casual "radar contact lost" I've heard

[@soccerguy2433]

i looked up from my breakfast when i heard that

[@davidkavanagh189]

It's likely the SRR contact lost. Not the primary return. It can mean an avionics problem affecting the transponder. That makes extra sense considering they obvious radio problems they were having.

[@clqudy4750]

Maybe ATC used to work at NASA? 😳😲😵

[@MicrowavedAlastair5390]

Dude rivals Patrick Harten.

[@TrainerAQ]

I mean you can get radar contact lost for a number of technological hiccups. It doesn't necessarily mean the plane crashed. The plane could have gone behind a mountain and that could have caused that. No need for a professional to become a drama queen. It's not Hollywood.

[@TheGospelQuartetParadise]

Now we know what pilot mean when they say "We train for this." There is an old saying, "Amateurs practice till they get it right - Professionals practice till they don't get it wrong." Great professionalism by pilots and Controllers.

[@Tomcat304]

When I heard "Radar contact lost!" That's when reality set in!! Incredible job by these pilots to bring it in safe !!!

[@persistentwind]

Kudos to Las Vegas approach and this controller for recognizing the severity of the issue and moving the traffic out of the way for them!

[@phattestphil]

Initially he was going to sequence him behind a 777 🙄

[@NicolaW72]

Indeed.

[@persistentwind]

@phattestphil but they moved them... so, job well done!

[@richarddaugherty8583]

That controller was perfect... he sounded almost bored which is exactly right and what the pilots need to hear. This should become a case study in how to handle an emergency.

[@FlyingDoctor60]

As soon as the video started I could hear that the pilots had their smoke masks on. Even though I knew they had landed safely, terror set in when I heard “Radar contact lost” and the screen went blank. The controller’s preternatural calm was astonishing. Fantastic job by all involved, including the cabin crew not letting panic and an uncommanded evacuation occur.

[@paulstejskal]

Honestly he may have known they were around because of the IDENTs. He probably figured they were doing something on their checklist. That was my feeling.

[@briansmyla8696]

It's Vegas, so with the terrain the controllers may be used to losing contact with incoming aircraft briefly as they fly through the radar's 'blind spots'. Just a guess.

[@paulstejskal]

@@briansmyla8696 What happens in Vegas stays in vegas, even ATC radars?

[@ardeladimwit]

Awesome job by thecontroller. Did a good job bringing them in and keeping his voice level and commands clear. Sure there must be a lot of hugs and thanks all around.

[@tommaxwell429]

Smart move making the heavy break off the approach. Didn't need any distractions or potential delays in this approach. Well done!

[@glennoverhoff6589]

Im sure he had a Captain Philips like breakdown after. I would have, and probably still be.

[@hewhohasnoidentity4377]

​@@tommaxwell429it used to be standard procedure to keep a runway sterile for emergency aircraft. Once they know an emergency is heading to a piece of pavement it is best to leave that pavement clear so there is no risk of someone else blocking the runway. Frequently now ATC tries to squeeze in landings before the emergency shuts down the runway. This ATC was excellent!

[@matt3rd647]

That was scary. Good job by all involved. Pilots and ATC showing their experience and professionalism.

[@Matt-mo8sl]

Panicking only intensifies the situation. Captain and controller both cool under pressure, remained focused. ATC's use of the "ident" was a very smart backup option. The airplane got on the ground in one piece and it's plenty fixable, all souls safe and accounted for. I call that a good ending to a bad situation.

[@NicolaW72]

Indeed, exactly.

[@keithpedersen3653]

Brilliant production Victor! This video is a perfect example of redundancy, automation, and CRM saving lives.

[@VASAviation]

Thanks for watching

[@johnh8493]

single pilot ops = dumb for this reason

[@Julie-w7j]

I was on this plane. 1326 The crew kept everything under control and none of us had information as passengers of what actually was happening. Me and my mom was in the back. Last passengers to get off. Glad to be safe and alive. My body hurts from the impact. Thank you for everyone’s service

[@mfr440]

Was everyone calm when waiting to evacuate? I would have been going for the emergency door release if I saw smoke.

[@crypticcrazy3672]

Did they tell everyone to brace (lean forward) for the landing?

[@Julie-w7j]

@@crypticcrazy3672 no we didn’t get any warning. But the flight attendants was acting very odd. 20 minutes into the ride it started smelling like popcorn. I honestly don’t even remember them saying we are preparing for landing like they normally do.

[@Julie-w7j]

@@mfr440 we was calm and collected, I was the last passenger to get off out of all. They sprayed us down for 30 minutes straight and took 50 minutes after landing til I personally got out.

[@Blue0cean]

@@Julie-w7j Ouch!

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

1:30 that controller's heart must have skipped a few beats there. You couldn't tell from his voice, though. Outstanding.

[@rdfox76]

Mine sure as hell did.

[@KyleClerico]

Interesting learning experience for the rescue crews too. Smart pilot. Stay clear of the doors! Pilot was not gonna disarm his only immediately available evac method until they had stairs present, and really they should have been aware of this and staying clear in the first place as they actually blocked the evac route

[@joshcryer]

Evac said they were bringing stairs before that though so he should have picked up on that. The fires were out. Asking if he should deploy the slides was redundant if he had been listening to fire.

[@spinkid2000]

Indeed. he stated we will evacuate on the runway. Those stairs should have never been near that plane. When you have an on board fire you may only have seconds to get out safely and ground did not know what was going on in the cabin.

[@Look_What_You_Did]

@@spinkid2000 Wrong.

[@JimNortonsAlcoholism]

​@@joshcryerThat's not good enough in a fire situation. Either you have the stairs ready to go or you don't.

[@JimNortonsAlcoholism]

​@@joshcryeralso you have no idea if the fires were completely out. You can tell everything from the outside. An internal fire can continue burning, especially electrical

[@jakint0sh]

WOW! Crazy well handled by the approach controller, and using the IDENT button to acknowledge ATC if you're unable to transmit is not something I'd have ever thought of. This is one for the ages!

[@jbrown3547]

Pretty standard ops when ATC is trying to get ahold of someone who isnt responding anymore.

[@lvsluggo007]

Not sure but I suspect using IDENT to acknowledge radio transmissions is the standard in a NORDO situation.

[@lwheatcraft]

@@lvsluggo007yep, it’s extremely standard.

[@iocat]

Amazing work by the controller and the pilots -- you can hear it in the pilot's voice, that was a tough situation! Definitely a clown car situation on the ground with the rescue vehicles though. Glad everyone was OK!

[@danniballecter7936]

That was the calmest I've ever heard someone say "Radar contact lost." Just hearing the phrase sends chills. ATC and the pilots did such an outstanding job and got everyone down safely!

[@lwheatcraft]

Radar contact lost isn’t always an emergency. Sometimes it’s just routine. If you fly in the flatlands, it happens less often.

[@KCFreitag]

One of the best! This exhibits how variables in a "standard" emergency need to be addressed!

[@spinkid2000]

For ATC I agree. I'm not sure how I feel about fire rescue pulling the stairs up after the pilot announced their evacuation.

[@HerpDerpNV]

@@spinkid2000 ARFF was freelancing.

[@execnav]

Good job CA and FO. And great job coordinating with CFR with the stairs. There was a ton of crap going on at that point and you guys managed to work it out. I'm so proud of everyone involved, but especially that flightdeck and cabin crew.

[@Beastjimbo]

My parents were on this flight, my dad says the flight went well until the approach to landing phase of the flight! At first I thought it was a problem with the landing gear, but after listening to the radio comms it makes things much clearer. My dad also said that some passengers started to smell smoke in the cabin. God is great I'm happy my parents and everyone in the flight are OK❤ salute to the pilots!

[@NicolaW72]

❤

[@richardgaynor234]

God is great unless he drowns everyone, Noah liked him.

[@nimbuskhannk627]

The firefighting procedures have to be seriously revised. The emergency escape area should never, ever, be blocked.

[@Look_What_You_Did]

So by your flawed logic air stairs can never be used. Got a real bright one here.

[@marctronixx]

armchair quarterback response with the benefit of hindsight.

[@Ndub1036]

Slides can be disarmed pal

[@nimbuskhannk627]

I've been in this business long enough. But even non-initiated, keyboard warriors should, at least, be able to do simple searches. Here's what ChatGPT would have told you, should you have made the right question "Airport firefighting vehicles should stand clear of emergency slide deployment areas when fighting an aircraft fire. Emergency slides are designed to deploy quickly and with significant force during an evacuation. If a firefighting vehicle or personnel are in the deployment zone, it can create a hazardous situation, potentially damaging equipment or injuring personnel. Additionally, keeping the area clear ensures that passengers and crew can evacuate the aircraft safely and efficiently. Firefighters must position their vehicles and equipment in a way that allows for fire suppression while also respecting the escape routes and deployment areas for the slides. Safety coordination between the firefighting team and the flight crew is critical in such emergencies." Further to this all, just from listening to the radio exchanges with the fire marshall, one can conclude that the firefighting services at that airport are not very proficient.

[@j134679]

@@Look_What_You_Did plane took 50 mins to evacuate by stairs. If there had been an existing fire not visible to the outside this would have been a disaster

[@TheChrisJones]

I just saw this headline on the news and had no idea it was this serious. Thought it was only a landing gear fire on landing. Harrowing to listen to. Great job on getting this out so fast VASAvaiation!

[@carolinelvsewe]

😢Great job, scary watch! Thank you to all who guard the skies and flights!!

This is why l have the utmost respect for pilots, Air Traffic Controllers and Fire Fighters. As well as all responders. When things like this happens, they do incredible things/

[@waynec9444]

The fire fighters did not do a damn thing except get in the way.

[@galady8632]

​@@waynec9444 * Who do you think put out the fire? Not catering or cabin service or gate agents or ticket agents or bag handlers or fueltruck drivers . . . . methinks it was fire fighters! Yes, the airstairs were in the wrong location. I don't know Frontier's protocols or guidelines but I haven't observed firefighters operating airstairs. Someone must have mentioned 'take airstairs and busses to evacuate the a/c but the Captain had other plans. No lives were lost. Everyone was safe. Overall I consider that a positive.

[@Glegh]

5:11 "Can you talk to the pilot?" "No he has no radio" "Can you talk to the pilot?" "No"

[@4name253]

ATC did say "They're unable to transmit to YOU" so fair enough ig

[@jimmc2990]

That controller was a total ice cube. Thank God we have people like him working all over the country. Amazing job!

[@VegasHeavyAircraft]

Fantastic work as usual Victor! There was much more to this story than just a "hard landing" as initially reported.

[@NicolaW72]

Indeed. This initial report was misleading.

[@suphowyoubeen]

5:35 It is almost like he was talking to you Vasaviation😅

[@VASAviation]

Indeed!

[@Antwelm]

LooooooL

[@captkev737]

Superb job by the Controller & Pilots, the Controller had a calm reassuring voice.

[@Boodieman72]

Sorry I couldn't talk, I was too busy flying the airplane and navigating. Good job on the controller telling the pilots to use the IDENT button for acknowledgement.

[@NicolaW72]

Indeed.

[@clarkosaurus]

Can you explain ‘ident’ button?

[@aj742]

@@clarkosaurus The "IDENT" button in modern jets is usually a way of letting controllers know exactly where your airplane is without them having to look around their radar scope, especially if there are a lot of aircraft and they need to spot your plane quickly. Pressing the button will result in that airplane's details flashing, I think three times if memory serves. In this case of course, since the controller realized communication by normal means was problematic, he told the pilots to use that button to acknowledge his instructions when they heard them.

[@duckfeverretrievers600]

It had nothing to do with being too busy. They had electrical issues, either because of the issue itself, an issue with the mics in the masks, or they turned stuff off to isolate the potential fire.

[@blancolirio]

On it...Thanks Victor!

[@OSUfan757]

The controller recognizing the ident as responses from the flight crew was ingenious.

[@GeneralDesignInnovation-es4zz]

Not ingenious. A well known backup method of acknowledging.

[@VASAviation]

It's common practice

[@keithmiller2714]

Great video Victor. Agencies will be using this for future training for sure!

[@Johnwashere-dt2ov]

Pilots and ATC superb professionalism, the fire crew may need to review this incident.

[@EoRdE6]

Interesting to note that the fire on landing was a run of the mill gear fire seemingly unrelated to the smoke incident that actually led to the emergency approach

[@SuperMyacc]

That felt hectic, but the controllers, pilots and rescue personnel all did an amazing job!

[@westsparks6844]

Wow! Not a good way to start a Vegas trip. Thank God everyone was alright. Great job by the pilots and ATC

[@Look_What_You_Did]

Which god we using today?

[@tommaxwell429]

Wow! Well done! Better comms than a lot of these videos with working radios. I do wonder what happened with the radios since they came back at the end. Perhaps there was an issue with them being on oxygen and talking at the same time. Everything was going good up until the yahoo parked under the door. Must have been braking really hard to blow all of those tires. Everyone walked away which is the goal. Sounded like the crew had a real pucker factor going on, who can blame them!

[@katanamd]

I suspect they had masks on due to smoke and could not respond. Once on the ground the risk of passing out is much lower so they removed masks. This is just a theory.

[@cjmillsnun]

@@katanamd Masks are equipped with mics, they can respond normally when wearing masks - indeed at the start of the video that's exactly what they were doing. More likely some kind of failure that they didn't have time to deal with in the air, but once stationary could use other means.

[@lisanadinebaker5179]

@tommaxwell - braking hard and landing fast. I suspect they were pushing to get that aircraft on the ground ASAP. Minutes can make a difference when fire/smoke is involved. Outstanding performance by ATC and aircraft crew.

[@joelinnebur]

My only thought is that the radios were working fine initially, but maybe after they dropped the Ram Air Turbine (part of the emergency checklist) is when they were unable to transmit. Maybe electronic in nature due to the situation

[@smileyheckster7231]

Likely they had lost power to what I assume is their powerful long range transmitters. Short Range probably wasn't affected. Has happened to me on small planes before.

[@sb859]

That was a nasty emergency to deal with. Fortunately the radios worked on the ground and the call was made to not blow slides, but its chaotic because the pilots cant see the engines or anything behind them.

[@spinkid2000]

he did want to evacuate (which was a wise choice based on past mistakes in delaying an evacuation) but ground pulled the stairs up and blocked him. They are lucky that fire was contained because if you had smoke going into the cabin or fire spreading inside (which ground could not see) it could have been deadly.

[@sb859]

@@spinkid2000 in that case, the FAs pop the slides no matter what.

[@BruiserFL]

Great job ATC and the Frontier crew!

[@augustomartins9516]

The calmest "Radar contact lost" I've ever heard.

[@lvsluggo007]

Usually when you hear "Radar contact lost", you start looking for a towering column of smoke... You gotta wonder WHY they lost radar contact when the plane was ~5,000 feet still?

[@buckhorncortez]

@@lvsluggo007 Because the radar display on the ATC screen is from the transponder, not the aircraft reflecting the radar.

[@yaronsteinbuch3956]

Amazing job by ATC. Incredible sequence of events. Thanks for posting.

[@ynot6473]

communication down to ident, just enough to acknowledge message received.

[@n0r3gr3ts]

Give me a ping Vasili. One ping only please.

[@lisanadinebaker5179]

@n0r3gr3ts - You beat me to it!!!

[@TonyN491]

That explains why ATC was sending dimensions on Playboy's Playmate of the Month...

[@vlieg-piet]

Very intens flight, not only for the pilots but also for the controllers. Split second decisions that can be amended anytime. Good coordination between all parties and also good not to evacuate via the slides. Because of the panic involved, people would only get hurt.

[@FromGamingwithLove0456]

Great to see these personnel on all 3 sides of this call run a clinic on how to manage inflight / runway emergencies. As an ARFF guy we're not seeing a lot of these incidents occur (and we're all thankful) so when we can see how it's happening "out there" during real incidents in excellent replays like this, it helps us gain perspective on the types of challenges the flight crew and responders can face.

[@realulli]

The controller sounded like he was dreaming of becoming capcom some time, ice cool but very on point. The pilot sounded like he had some blood mixed in the the adrenaline. However, excellent job by all involved!

[@johnpoindexter6594]

Cool, calm and collected A+ Service

[@dominicdahlheimer6861]

Great job pilots and atc!

[@jibeji]

Great job ATC !

[@EstorilEm]

Is it just me or did ARFF kinda seem like a $hit show? Why were 2/3 of the vehicles staged in a different zip code when they knew for minutes what runway they were arriving on? Who brings a boom/vehicle up to an armed cabin door and asks them to open it? Did they not hear their own transmission for air stairs on the way? Why didn’t ARFF move as soon as tower cleared them? None of it probably mattered in THIS case, but considering the amount of training they do, the whole thing was kinda bizarre. Sure, sometimes they get a SHORT final call or alert after touchdown, but not here. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Controller was awesome 👌 I can only imagine the relief the flight crew felt the first time he said “ident received.”

[@amylynncreaney2245]

Because you don’t roll every fire truck at the same time. You only roll a primary team and stage a secondary team to observe the overall picture. That way if conditions change drastically, the secondary team can see it happening and move where they are needed. Having every fire truck roll up would leave no contingency plan for a secondary event. These are professionals that have a plan and exercise it often. They know what they are doing.

[@rodnroll3096]

Correct need to be a firefighter to understand how an emergency works can’t just watch a tv show about firefighters only in Hollywood

[@markmaki4460]

I imagine the fewer vehicles around an area with potentially scores or hundreds of disoriented evacuees milling about the better. Good call to not evacuate though! That had to be a difficult call with smoke in the cabin (and adrenaline high), but rushing it (using slides) wasn't necessary in the event. Maybe ARFF parked in a bad spot fortuitously prevented the slide deployment just long enough for a more sober decision to be made.

[@ABa-os6wm]

You dont want a risk of the plane deviating the runway to collide with fire truck, they first keep clear for the landing.

[@z31beck]

I know everyone's first inclination is to congratulate and defend the actions of those involved, but all of these scenarios should have been thought of ahead of time: easily in fact. It blows my mind that people that are supposed to be an integral part of safety haven't thought one step past the basics on anything. I'm not mad, just disappointed. The current culture is that would be a lot of extra work, but it isn't at all. These are simply excuses to not change anything. This will matter one day when 100 or 200 people are barbequed on a runway somewhere with a big fat audience. With my work all mistakes are very expensive, so I just think through many scenarios that aren't likely but remotely possible. It's sad I have to take more care to not make a $10,000-100,000 mistake, and these people have potentially 100s of lives in their hands and they just shoulder shrug and say well this doesn't normally happen.

[@Theonedjneo]

Kudos to the approach controller.

[@Lucaswingz]

Sensational work from ATC! As always, awesome video 🐸

[@elizabeth5985]

Wow that whole thing gave me chills. "Radar contact lost" -- that controller is gonna have nightmares about this for a while. Well handled by everyone!

[@MB-hc2xw]

Wow this was crazy. Glad they are ok! Huge congrats to the flight crew and ATC for being so on point.

[@nelsonbrandt7847]

Amazing coverage of this incident.

[@RusskiCommieBot]

He sounds a lot like the final approach controller in the Airport 1970 movie. Very cool and well spoken.

[@W2IRT]

I was thinking exactly that. I'd never heard of a PAR approach before that. Saw it the day it came out (late-69, I think).

[@ChrisJohnson-hk6es]

Kudos to the pilots for handling that emergency like total professionals. Also kudos to ATC and fire rescue. Glad to see they didn't have to evacuate, as they seem to generate some injuries. I bet those passengers were freaking when they saw the smoke and fire crews spraying.

[@PetrolHeadBrasil]

The app controller.... WELL DONE!!!

[@EdOeuna]

An interesting scenario that seems to be getting addressed more and more in sims lately. Don’t just evacuate. Take information from what the cabin crew can see, what the tower can see and what RFF can see. Don’t just blow the slides in a panic. Take your time and evaluate. Clearly in this scenario they’ve got extra information about the aircraft that is not immediately available to them. Not all emergency landings end with an evacuation.

[@iocat]

It did end with an evacuation, just not down the slides.

[@LiamsCarsandblocks]

​@iocat yea thats the point. Blowing the slides almost always results in injuries. If it can be prevented, then it should be. But there is a fine line, because fire and smoke can come quick, if you hesitate it can cost lives.

[@EdOeuna]

@@iocat - that’s not an evacuation then.

[@spinkid2000]

@@LiamsCarsandblocks Exactly. Sad examples exist of delaying evacuation. If that cabin had been full of smoke that blocked exit would have been a HUGE issue.

[@rdfox76]

@@spinkid2000 Just that one? Not really. The standard required before you can start operating an aircraft type is a demonstration of evacuating a complete planeload of unknowing passengers from the airplane *with half the exits blocked*, randomly selected and marked as "blocked" by a simulated fire *after* the cabin is buttoned up, with all window shades down and all FAs strapped into their seats, and nobody on board having any knowledge of which exits are blocked. This still requires the complete airplane to be evacuated in 90 seconds or less, even though the FAs don't know which exits they can use, and the pax don't know what the hell is going on. (The passengers are recruited through want ads in the newspaper, and are told that the airline will pay them a couple hundred bucks to be passengers on a "cabin crew training flight" to help them learn how to properly operate the new type. It's generally designed to convince them that they're being hired to ride around for a few hours as the FAs test their cabin service procedures... and yes, the FAA does make you recruit an entire new planeload for every test, none of whom may have *ever* been part of an evacuation test *or* an employee of *any* airline before.) So an evac on the runway with one slide blocked? The FAs would have seen it was blocked (which is why every exit door has a window in it), blocked off that door, and evacuated everyone else with all the other slides, no problem.

[@bobbiac]

Aviate. Navigate. Communicate. Even if the radios were working, priority would have been to get on the ground ASAP. Credit to all involved.

[@Republic3D]

Well done by the pilots and ATC.

[@arkiefyler]

Tough call, most injuries occur from people not using the slides correctly.

[@matt1544zxc3]

"This rollaboard is really important! I have to bring it with me!!"

[@nicolassales8679]

No wait I have to save this carry on case full of crap I bought on vacation!

[@theinfinitistig1109]

Great job by ATC and the crew. They all kept calm, and that is how to handle it like a pro.

[@KFCMakeGoodWingIets]

That's a proper shit show. Well done boys for keeping it together

[@PlaneSpotterRVer314]

Reminded me ba BA2276 from 9 years ago. The controllers here are awesome they always handle the situation in a calmly manner

[@johnarnell4241]

Squeaky bum time for the controller when he lost radar contact I would imagine.

[@VASAviation]

Wouldn't like to be in his shoes at that time.

[@1ytcommenter]

I am wondering if their "radar" screen relies on the/displays the transponder transmission and not on the radar echo!? Can someone explain?

[@dogcarman]

@@1ytcommenter Good question. He said they got the transponder back a little later so I guess they rely on it to see the aircraft.

[@Nevour1]

@@dogcarman With how calm the controller said "Radar Contact Lost" he only lost him on Secondary Radar (the one that relies on the transponder), if he'd lost him on Primary Radar (the one that ping radio wave of the plane and generate a return) that would almost certainly meant the plane had crashed. And I don't think the ATC would have been just calmly stating it like that.

[@athompso99]

​@@1ytcommenterYes, ATC screens generally use "secondary" "radar" data for their display, which means the data transmitted by the transponder in the aircraft (1/sec, I think?). I'm told not all airports/towers/ATC sites even have primary radar (the old-style rotating antennas) any more, relying on a few centralized primary radar sites. The ATC software can integrate the two sources of data but primary radar still has a 10-second sweep time so there would be a delay before the plane showed up again. I think - IANAATC!

[@SeligTiles]

The blancolirio channel has a great vid up about this. The aircraft was in a reduced electrical configuration. The RAT was also deployed.

[@cryptobox128]

When they dropped off radar there, the controller's heart must have dropped all the way down to his shoes. But he kept his voice level.

[@Look_What_You_Did]

You have no idea how that works... Are you familiar with critical thinking?

[@cryptobox128]

@@Look_What_You_Did Begging your pardon, but what on EARTH are you talking about?

[@eritain]

​@@cryptobox128 Don't feed the troll. Read around, you will notice all of their comments are just pissing on random strangers.

[@crew-dog2668]

Very surprised that the fire department didn’t know he was radio out. That should have been told to them.

[@Juttutin]

EXCELLENT all around - my only thought was to wonder if the controller could have given a phone number to the aircraft for use AFTER landing if radios were still not functioning.

[@Look_What_You_Did]

Sit this one out junior. The adults have the floor.

[@parkerholden7140]

Beautifully handeled by all involved. Professionalism at its best

[@Gatorsfan456]

Damn I knew the outcome already but seeing them drop off radar still made my heart sink phew

[@rachaellawrence8635]

Brave professionalism by all. Bravo.

[@imkeerock]

AWESOME JOB by the flight crew and ATC! Well done!

[@QFWP]

Great job for the ATC to come up with a way he knew they were getting his messages, IDENT saves the day

[@randomnewyorklawyer]

My friend was in the plane waiting to take off behind this plane and saw fire. Glad to know what happened here.

[@andij605]

That approach ATC is so good at their job. I know this is what they train for, but it's rare to hear the training work so well.

[@CPcamaro]

That controller was great. Just smoothly transitions to instructions with ident responses and brought them right in.

[@katout75]

Cool calm communications by all, from ground rescue to Tower to ATC to flight crew. Simply outstanding reactions by all

[@TangoDelta8111]

What video did u watch? ATC and pilots were great, the rescue crews were Crap! More of a hinderance than a help, other than the crew that put out the fire.

[@Derderderheisst]

Great video and awesome job by that Approach Controller. Would be really interesting to see how the airspace arround was handled

[@revcrussell]

Sounds like ARFF needs more drills. ARFF needs to know where to park appropriately, even during an emergency. Those doors might need to blow. I work nuclear and during a drill I recall FF showing up and parking in what would be in the high radiation zone. As the radiation expert on scene we tried to make sure that didn't happen again.

[@keithpedersen3653]

I wonder if they rebooted the transponder to suggest the IDENT as a means of comms. Brillians CRM!

[@ericmoraes2741]

This event continues to make crystal clear how critically important it is that the industry maintains the two-pilot standard that we currently have here in the United States. It’s helped lead to the safest skies in the world. Some corporate special interests are pushing to change that standard and lower the safety bar by allowing commercial flights to operate with only one pilot. This is a dangerous idea. Putting profit ahead of safety is never a good idea. Contact your Congressperson and Senators and let them know that two well trained pilots must remain on the flight deck at all times.

[@simonaustin7223]

If a crew states they’re evacuating, they EVACUATE. That’s how they’re trained. It’s the captain’s decision and once the cabin crew is advised, the evacuation is never cancelled. The crew does not wait for direction from CFR.

[@Flies2FLL]

That's good that they evacuated via stairs. Usually there are a few people who get hurt at the bottom of he slides, and those things just DESTROY your clothes! If you go down a slide, it is likely you won't wear your jeans or shorts again.

[@tommaxwell429]

???? You mean it isn't like going down the water slide at the water park? Do they ruin your jeans via friction or soiling?

[@jase9951]

Not to mention something like $100k per slide

[@markmaki4460]

@@jase9951 Yeah last i heard was $50k but inflation - and maybe Airbus is more than Boeing. Maybe the dork parked under the door fortuitously forced a pause to collect thoughts and make a more adrenaline-free decision.

@@markmaki4460 Wasnt there smoke in the cabin? If so, thats not healthy, and multiply with however many passengers. I would say getting away from that smoke is worth quite a bit probably.

[@Flies2FLL]

@@jase9951 If you have to replace them, yes. I believe that normally they can be deflated and repacked.

[@jeremyy1314]

Thanks for sharing! Hope all is safe.

[@jameskim62]

Excellent handling by Everyone!!!!! Very Professional !!!!!

[@SEA-U2]

Amazing Job All the Way Around 👍💪

[@freevillein9763]

That controller was amazing!

[@AntCooke]

Really professional job from everyone. Brilliant stuff.