Large plane part falls in mall lot

DORAL, Fla. (WSVN) -- A cargo plane dropped a large panel in the parking lot of Miami International Mall, according to the FAA.

No one was injured and the Boeing 747, an Atlas Air cargo plane from Santiago, Chile, landed safely at Miami International Airport, Friday, at around 12:30 p.m. "It could have hit somebody. It was pretty scary," said Bibi Lope, a shocked shopper at the mall.

That section of the parking lot at Miami International Mall was mostly empty when the large piece of plane fell among the parking spaces with no cars or pedestrians in the area. This object landed in the southeast corner of the mall, outside the Dillard's Department Store, off of Northwest 107th Avenue and the 836 expressway. Mall employees said they know that they dodged a bullet. "That's what I was thinking of when it fell. I thought it could have hit a car," said Onays Perez.

The FAA said the plane was on its final approach to Runway 9 when somehow this fiberglass panel, about the size of a large sedan, came off. Mark Tender, a spokesperson for Atlas Air released this statement: "Atlas is grateful that no one was injured and is investigating the matter further. Atlas is also cooperating with the appropriate authorities in their review of this matter. Atlas takes this matter very seriously and will be conducting a thorough investigation."

Doral Police and Florida Highway Patrol responded and blocked off the object with security tape. Paul Kakos watched as police cordoned off the scene. "With planes flying overheard, we kind of thought that pretty much what it was, but it's scary," he said.

By 4 in the afternoon, the piece was collected and everything was back to normal at mall.

Airplanes fly over this parking lot on their way into MIA constantly. It remains unknown what exactly caused this item to come loose and plummet to the ground.