At least five people were killed and five more injured, authorities said, after an Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 cargo plane overshot the runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday, striking multiple vehicles and erupting into a blaze.
Videos from the scene showed a fire and thick black smoke rising from the plane.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said in a statement that first responders encountered “heavy flames” and a fuel leak.
At an afternoon news conference, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said the fire had been contained and that there was no ongoing threat to the public.
It was not immediately clear on Sunday how many people were on the plane, and whether those killed were people on the ground.
Officials did not identify the deceased.
An Amazon spokesperson said that “an Amazon Air plane operated by 21 Air experienced an incident while attempting to land at Miami International Airport.” “This is a fast-moving situation and we’re still gathering details,” the spokesperson, Kelly Nantel, said in an X post around 4 p.m. “We’re working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened.” Of the five people who were 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 encountered a complex engine compartment fire 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 inside the cockpit while locating and assessing patients throughout the scene.” The plane took off from Puerto Rico at noon and reached Miami around 2 p.m., according to data from the aviation tracking website Flightradar24.
The website also showed the plane was traveling at 112 knots as it exited the usable part of the runway.
Weather data shows there were thunderstorms and gusting winds at the time of the crash.
The plane involved was a Boeing 767-300 freighter, registered as N1997A, and first delivered as a passenger jet 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 re-entering service in 2016.
That means it had been operated and maintained by multiple companies over three decades before Sunday’s crash. “Boeing extends our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the accident in Miami,” Boeing said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to those injured and affected by this tragedy.
Boeing is supporting the investigation led by the U.S National Transportation Safety Board.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X around 4 p.m. that a full ground stop was in place “while first responders assess the scene.” The plane was left disabled at the northwest end of the airport.
The airport has since partially reopened as of Sunday evening, but runway 30 remains closed, and passengers should expect delays of at least 6 hours, according to the FAA.
According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue radio transmissions recorded on Broadcastify, the plane crossed 67th Avenue, a nearby road, before it struck a truck. “We have a patient trapped,” a first responder said, according to the recordings.
First responders scrambled to attain a reliable water supply as they sought to control the fire on the plane, according to the recordings.
A command dispatcher asked first responders several times to enter the plane, according to the recordings.
The fire was largely extinguished by 2:08 p.m. “I need you to start making entry with your crew so we can shut down the engine,” the command dispatcher said, according to the recordings. “I believe the pilots are out of the aircraft.” A first responder said in the recordings that one pilot was with him in a parking lot.
Another first responder said that the pilot was talking with 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 into Trinity Bay near Houston, killing the three people on board.
The NTSB said the cause of that accident was in-flight loss of control due to pilot error.
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
