Airplane crashes at Tri-Cities Airport; passengers escape safely

PASCO, Wash. — Ten passengers are safe after a corporate jet crashed due to malfunction landing gear at the Tri-Cities Airport Tuesday morning.

The Cessna Citation CJ3 was carrying ten employees with Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute (PCLI), a surgical center with locations in Kennewick, Lewiston and Chehalis.

PCLI employee Kristina Gamboa said she had just arrived at the airport to pick-up a nurse flying in on the plane.

"You could see the plane skidding down the runway on its belly and then plethora of smoke after that," Gamboa said.

Airport officials say the plane came in with malfunction landing gear, causing it to slide on the runway and catch fire.

Pasco fire crews rushed to scene and immediately evacuated the ten passengers on board and extinguished the flames.

"Very seldom does anything like this ever happen, but those crews are prepared and ready to go," Ben Shearer with the Pasco Fire Department said.

For Gamboa, the crash brought back a vivid memory.

"Our company had a plane crash in 2010 where we lost three souls, so this was a pit of your stomach feeling when you saw it happen," Gamboa said. "Just reliving that dark day."

Gamboa said the plane was flying in from Chehalis to drop off a nurse and pick up a surgeon in Tri-Cities, to take to their final destination in Lewiston.

A total of 14 units were dispatched to the scene, according to fire officials, adding some were cleared right away.

Airport officials shut down the airfield for a little over an hour as crews worked to clear the debris.

Gamboa said all ten passengers were driven back home to Chehalis to be with their families.

"They were all elated that they were all fine, but you could tell they had just been through something very traumatic and it's going to take some time for them to heal from that," Gamboa said.

Gamboa said they postponed all surgeries that were scheduled on Tuesday in Kennewick and Lewiston. She said their focus is on supporting those involved.

The crash is currently under investigation.