A Group Of Frontier Airlines Passengers Are Suing, Saying They Were Kept On A 'smoke-filled' Plane For Nearly An Hour

Frontier Airlines is being sued by 19 passengers.

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• Part of a Frontier Airlines plane caught fire upon landing in Las Vegas last month.
• 19 passengers suing the airline say they were kept on a smoke-filled plane for nearly an hour.
• The NTSB's report said firefighters told the pilots the smoke had been eliminated.

A group of Frontier Airlines passengers say they were kept on board a smoke-filled plane for nearly an hour in a lawsuit filed last week.

The 19 plaintiffs were among the 197 people on board Flight 1326 from San Diego to Las Vegas on October 5.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report into the incident, the Airbus A321 was arriving at Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport when it suffered a brake fire. Photos and video of the incident show smoke and flames coming from the aircraft.

The flight's first officer told investigators that, shortly before descent, the cabin crew detected an odor in the cabin, which was then smelled in the cockpit, too.

The report added that after the pilots declared an emergency, their display screens were limited, and they had some difficulty communicating with air traffic control.

Friday's lawsuit, filed in the Nevada District Court, says that the cabin was filled with smoke and became "extraordinarily hot."

It adds that passengers were also subjected to "the violent impact of the landing" after tires exploded and landing gear collapsed.

Emergency services came onto the runway to extinguish the fire.

The 190 passengers and seven crew were evacuated via the air stairs and took a bus to the terminal, a Frontier spokesperson previously told Business Insider. They added that nobody was injured.

The lawsuit says that before evacuating, passengers were "held on a sweltering smoke-filled aircraft for nearly an hour."

The NTSB's report said the pilots began the emergency evacuation checklist but firefighters told them the fire was extinguished and the smoke was eliminated.

Frontier Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI about the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs accused the airline of negligence and asked for at least $15,000 in both general and special damages, plus lost wages and attorneys' fees.

NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration investigations into the incident are ongoing.