At least five people were killed and five were injured, authorities said Amazon Prime Air A Boeing 767 cargo plane overshot the runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday, hitting several vehicles and bursting into flames.
Videos from the scene showed a fire and thick black smoke coming from the plane. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said in a statement Sunday evening that more than 60 units and approximately 200 personnel responded to the incident and arrived to find an aircraft with “heavy flames and smoke.”
At an afternoon news conference, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said the fire was under control and there was no ongoing threat to the public.
It was not immediately clear Sunday how many people were on the plane or whether the dead were people on the ground. Officials have not identified the deceased.
An Amazon spokesperson said that “an Amazon Air aircraft operated by 21 Air experienced an incident while attempting to land at Miami International Airport.”
“This is a rapidly evolving situation and we are still gathering details,” spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in an X-post around 4 p.m. “We are working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened.”
Of the five people injured, three were taken to a trauma center, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said. The other two were taken to area hospitals.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said HazMat units safely shut down the plane’s engine.
“Firefighters were confronted with a complex fire in the engine compartment and used foam from specialized airport firefighting units to extinguish the flames,” the agency said. “The crews also conducted search and rescue operations for the pilots and co-pilots in the cockpit while locating and assessing patients throughout the scene.”
What we know so far about the plane and the flight
The plane took off from Puerto Rico at noon and reached Miami around 2 p.m., according to data from the airline tracking website Flight radar24. The website also showed the plane leaving the usable portion of the runway at a speed of 112 knots. Weather data shows that there were thunderstorms and gusts of wind at the time of the crash.
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 767-300 freighter, registered N1997A, first delivered as a passenger aircraft in 1994 to the now defunct Belgian airline Sobelair. It passed through several more airlines before being converted into a freighter by a third party – not Boeing – and returned to service in 2016. That means it was operated and maintained by multiple companies for 30 years before Sunday’s crash.
“Boeing extends our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in the Miami accident,” Boeing said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to those injured and affected by this tragedy. Boeing supports the investigation led by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.”
The 767’s last recorded speed was 69 knots, according to Flightradar24. Flight radar24
Secretary of Transport Sean Duffy said around 4pm on X that a complete ground stop took place “while first responders assess the scene.” The aircraft was disabled on the northwest side of the airport. The airport has since partially reopened as of Sunday evening, but runway 30 remains closed and passengers can expect delays of at least six hours, according to the airport. F.A.A.
According to radio broadcasts from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue recorded on Broadcastify, the plane crossed 67th Avenue, a nearby road, before colliding with a truck.
“We have a patient trapped,” a first responder said, according to the recordings.
According to the recordings, first responders attempted to reach a reliable water supply while trying to control the fire on the plane.
A command coordinator the first responders asked boarding the plane several times, the recordings show. The fire was largely extinguished at 2:08 p.m
“I need you to come in with your crew so we can shut down the engine,” the command coordinator said, according to the recordings. “I believe the pilots are out of the plane.”
An emergency worker said in the recordings that one pilot was with him in a parking lot. Another first responder said the pilot was talking to firefighters at the scene to show them how to shut down the engine.
This is the second 767 cargo plane to crash in Amazon’s Prime Air network. In 2019, an Atlas Air freighter flying on behalf of Amazon crashed in Trinity Bay near Houston, killing the three people on board. The NTSB said the cause of that accident was loss of control in flight due to pilot error.
Aditi Bharade contributed to reporting on this story.
