An Amazon-branded cargo jet overran the runway while landing at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, struck several vehicles and burst into flames, killing five people and injuring five others in one of the deadliest cargo-plane accidents at a major U.S. airport in years.
The aircraft, a Boeing 767-300 freighter operating as 21 Air Flight 7598 under the Amazon Prime Air brand, was arriving from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it overran Runway 30 at roughly 2 p.m. ET, according to accounts of the crash. The plane struck multiple vehicles before coming to rest in a field adjacent to the airport. Of the five people injured, three remained in critical condition and two were hospitalized with less severe injuries. More than 60 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded, battling a fire that involved the aircraft's engine compartments as well as an active fuel leak.
The crash triggered a full ground stop at one of the country's busiest international gateways. All runways and taxiways were initially closed; two of the airport's four runways had reopened by 5 p.m., though ground delays persisted into Monday morning. The U.S. Department of Transportation urged travelers to anticipate significant delays.
Investigators dispatched
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending an investigative team, and the Federal Aviation Administration is separately examining the cause of the crash, which had not been determined as of Monday morning. It remains unclear whether weather conditions played a role. The aircraft involved was originally delivered as a passenger jet in 1994 before later being converted into a freighter, a common practice among older 767s in cargo service, and was operated by 21 Air, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based contract carrier that flies for Amazon's rapidly expanded air cargo network.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel confirmed the deaths in a statement:
We're heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today's incident at Miami International Airport.
Kelly Nantel, Amazon spokesperson
21 Air's chief executive, Keith Winters, said the crash had left the company "devastated" and pledged full cooperation with federal investigators, according to reports from the scene. Investigators have not yet said when they expect to release preliminary findings, a process that typically takes several days on site before a fuller report follows months later.
Other outlets covering the crash have gathered additional detail on the runway conditions and emergency response in the minutes after the plane went down.
