Story summary
At least 5 dead after Amazon cargo plane crashes at Miami International Airport, Sunday afternoon
A Boeing 767-300 Amazon Prime cargo plane, operated by contract carrier 21 Air, crashed and burst into flames while attempting to land at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon. The plane had arrived from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and overran the runway, striking multiple vehicles and killing at least 5 people. Three others were critically injured, and two suffered less severe injuries.
60 firefighters responded to the crash, which was so intense that it brought operations at one of the busiest airports in the US to a halt. The plane's pilot and copilot were trapped in the cockpit, and some people were trapped inside vehicles hit by the plane.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has assembled a team to investigate the crash, which is being treated as a major accident. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will also be investigating.
The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava, said at a news conference that her "heart is with all of the families who were affected" by the tragedy. Amazon released a statement expressing its "heartbreak" over the incident and said it was working closely with local authorities to understand what happened.
Written for “Amazon Cargo Plane Crash” on 2026-09-09,
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Cargo jet tried to abort unsteady landing before Miami crash, flight data indicates
MIAMI —
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data → try → crash
Flight data suggest an Amazon cargo plane tried to abort an unsteady landing at Miami International Airport before smashing into a van and killing five people inside, according to information investigators released Tuesday.
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investigators → suggest → information
National Transportation Safety Board investigators will interview the pilot and co-pilot on Wednesday as they try to determine why the jet overran the runway while landing Sunday.
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jet → interview → runway
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at an evening news conference that they are reviewing flight data and cockpit recordings to figure out what happened in the seconds before the aircraft slammed into the van on airport property, careened through a fence and then smashed an SUV on a city street.
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aircraft → say → street
Homendy said investigators want to talk to the pilots before releasing anything from the cockpit voice recorder about why they appeared to briefly attempt to perform a go-around to retry the landing approach before abandoning that and trying to stop the plane.
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they → say → plane
She said the data showed the thrust reversers were never used to help stop the plane.
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reversers → say → plane
The five people killed were all inside a van used to shuttle crews that clean planes, authorities said.
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authorities → kill → planes
Five other people were injured.
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people → injure → ?
The pilot and co-pilot have been released from the hospital, Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said Tuesday.
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Stutz → release → hospital
Two people remain in critical condition, while a third is in stable condition, she said.
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she → remain → condition
Both the mangled white van, its entire front end crushed, and the SUV — so badly damaged it was nearly unrecognizable — remained at the crash site Tuesday, along with the jet, which sat nose-down with a large soot mark near the P in "Prime Air."
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which → mangle → Air
Expert says the pilots may have hesitated
The Amazon jet was landing after a two-hour flight from Puerto Rico as storms brewed around the Miami airport.
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storms → say → airport
The NTSB said the plane barreled roughly 1,300 feet (396 meters) past the end of the runway.
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plane → say → runway
Former FAA official Mike O'Donnell said Tuesday the fact that the plane landed on its nose and right landing gear first demonstrates this was an unstable landing.
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this → say → nose
He said the pilot might have been attempting a go-around.
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pilot → say → around
"A go-around probably should have been executed sooner than that.
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around → execute → that
And it seems like they hesitated," O'Donnell said.
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O'Donnell → seem → ?
O'Donnell said that by the the time the crew tried to abort the landing, it may have been too late if there wasn't enough runway left.
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it → say → landing
But the interviews investigators scheduled with the pilots for Wednesday will reveal more about what they were thinking at that moment.
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they → schedule → moment
Aviation attorney Mary Schiavo, who once was the Transportation Department's Inspector General, said "it almost seems like there was a disagreement between the pilots on what to do."
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it → say → what
The weather could have also been a factor because experts said it appeared a strong tail wind propelled the plane far past the point where it was supposed to land.
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it → say → point
Investigators will want to know what the pilots were told about the weather and why air traffic controllers had not flipped the approach to the runway to allow the plane to land into a headwind.
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plane → want → headwind
All the people killed were in a cleaning service van
Amazon said in a statement that it is cooperating with the investigation and the company's deepest sympathies go to the victims and their families.
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sympathies → kill → victims
The five people killed were all in a van owned by Professional Ocean Service Corp., a company that cleans planes.
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that → kill → planes
The company said it wouldn't comment on the crash out of respect for the families who lost loved ones.
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who → say → ones
"Our employees are far more than the people who work beside us each day, they are family, and they are deeply loved.
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they → work → us
Our hearts and prayers are with every employee and every family whose lives have been forever changed," the company said in a statement Tuesday.
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company → change → statement
The Miami-Dade sheriff identified the deceased as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
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sheriff → identify → Leon
Homendy said the crash raises safety concerns for workers at airports.
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crash → say → airports
You would not think riding in a van to clean an airplane, that this would happen," she said.
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she → think → airplane
Miami doesn't have a special system to stop runaway planes
Homendy has said that investigators will look at whether the lack of a special system to slow and stop speeding jets at the end of Miami's runways could have been a factor in the crash.
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lack → have → crash
But other experts say the airport complied with FAA requirements to provide a cleared buffer space of at least 1,000 feet (305 meters) past the end of the runways.
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airport → say → runways
Miami is not one of the more than 120 airports in the U.S. with lightweight, crushable material that the Federal Aviation Administration says has saved around 500 lives.
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Administration → say → lives
Homendy said her agency's goal is to prevent tragedies, but thousands of runway excursions have continued to happen.
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thousands → say → excursions
The NTSB's final report will identify the cause and make recommendations to prevent it from happening again, but that likely won't be complete until a year or more from now.
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that → identify → year
The jet started as a passenger plane before converting to cargo
The flight had been operated by 21 Air, a cargo carrier based in North Carolina.
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flight → start → Carolina
The 32-year-old Boeing 767 was originally built to carry passengers and flew for several airlines in foreign countries for more than two decades before being converted to a cargo plane in 2015, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.
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Boeing → build → Flightradar24
The Miami airport regained the use of a third runway Tuesday evening after the NTSB released it, but investigators are still documenting the evidence around the wreckage at the end of the runway the jet landed on.
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jet → regain → runway
More than 225 flights were canceled Sunday and Monday, and hundreds more were delayed, officials said.
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officials → cancel → ?
But that should improve now that the airport can use three of its four runways.
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airport → improve → runways
…and 1 more, not listed.
