NTSB Probes Amazon Cargo Jet Crash That Killed Five in Miami

The central question in the Miami cargo plane crash is whether the Boeing 767 touched down too far along the runway, leaving the crew too little room to stop. The aircraft slid about 396 meters after leaving the runway, striking a van carrying seven aviation-cleaning workers and an SUV outside the airport area.

All five people killed in the Sept. 6 crash were inside the van, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said, according to the Associated Press. Three people suffered serious injuries and two others sustained minor injuries. Homendy described the scene as “a scene of devastation.”

Investigators found a long tire mark stretching from the runway onto the grass. The crash destroyed the van, heavily damaged a fence, and scattered fragments of vehicles, the aircraft, and airport equipment across the site. Video appeared to show the Boeing 767 remaining airborne for some time before landing.

The NTSB is reviewing the aircraft’s speed, braking, weather and wind conditions, technical state, and maintenance records. Experts cited in the report said aircraft generally need to touch down within the first 914 meters of a runway. If a plane lands too far beyond that point, pilots may need to go around and attempt another landing.

The aircraft was operated by 21 Air under contract for Amazon Prime Air. It had flown for 32 years, first as a passenger aircraft before conversion to a freighter in 2015. Miami International Airport does not have a system of arresting material to slow an aircraft that leaves the runway, but former Federal Aviation Administration airport safety director Mike O’Donnell said the airport met regulations through a roughly 305-meter safety area at the runway’s end. Two of the airport’s four runways remained closed on Sept. 8.

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a scene of devastation