NTSB: Plane on fire at Fort Lauderdale airport had disconnected fuel line

A disconnected main fuel line was discovered on a Dynamic International Airways flight that caught fire at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last week, according to an update released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Also revealed: The Boeing 767 plane, headed to Venezuela last Thursday, had been in storage for more than two years until Dynamic leased the plane in September. It has since flown around 240 hours.

“The NTSB is reviewing the airplane maintenance records at Dynamic International Airways’ headquarters in North Carolina,” NTSB Spokesman Eric Weiss wrote in the update.“According to the aircraft records, the accident airplane was in dry storage for approximately 29 months until September 2015 when Dynamic International Airways leased the airplane.”

The fire happened just as Flight 405 headed toward the runway. Passengers heard a loud boom and then saw flames coming from the plane.The 101 people aboard — including 90 passengers and 11 crew members — exited the plane by chutes. Nearly two dozen people were injured.

Investigators have been combing through the charred plane since Thursday. Other findings include: There was no evidence the engine exploded; the fire did not penetrate the body of the plane; and there was no record there had been maintenance to the fuel coupling device. The flight and cockpit recorders will be reviewed.

Weiss said Tuesday a full report could take months.

“These are facts generated by the investigation so far,” he said. “Probable cause won’t be determined until the end of the investigation.”