THIS is the terrifying moment a private jet skids across a runway and explodes into a huge fireball with two people feared dead in the blast.

The aircraft was reportedly attempting an emergency landing after a serious mechanical issue mid-flight but as it touched down at an airport it quickly burst into flames.

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Footage shows the Gulfstream jet scraping along the runway on its rear wheels before violently bouncing and then erupting into a towering orange fireball.

The flight took off from La Romana and was headed to the city of Austin, Texas before the tragedy.

Emergency crews rushed to La Romana International Airport immediately, as the mangled wreckage of the jet was left on the runway.

Operations at the airfield located in the east of the Dominican Republic were cancelled as firefighters surveyed the scene.

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Early reports suggest the aircraft lost stability while attempting to turn back, before crashing inside the airport terminal perimeter, in a devastating impact that proved fatal.

Local media have reported two pilots on board died in the dramatic incident.

The Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC) stated in a press release: “The US-registered aircraft, registered to an executive aviation company, had its two crew members on board: the pilot and co-pilot. 
No passengers were reported.”

The agency did not release the names of the two people who died.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety (DSP) of Puerto Rico, Arturo Garffer, said the plane “had malfunctions on landing.”

“Everything is still preliminary. Apparently, it was crewed by two people,” he said in brief comments to El Nuevo Día.

The director of the Civil Aviation Board, Hector Porcella, told AFP that he still did not know the details of the accident.

The crashed plane was reportedly a Gulfstream G200, a private jet with a capacity of between eight and 18 passengers.

Authorities say a full inquiry is now underway to establish exactly what went wrong in the moments before the crash.