CBS News
· collected 2026-09-09 · by Manuel Bojorquez, Larry Seward, Ana Maria Soler
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy announced that investigators will interview the two pilots of an Amazon cargo plane that crashed at Miami International Airport on Wednesday morning. The captain, Joseph Carroll, has 7,145 flight hours, while the first officer, Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, has 2,655 hours. The NTSB team recovered both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the crash site, with over two hours of good quality audio and about 55 hours of data, respectively. Investigators are seeking to understand how the crew manipulated controls during the incident by interviewing them and gathering information from air traffic controllers and dispatchers.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
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,
grounded in this article and the 45 other(s) covering the same event.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are set of the Amazon cargo plane after overshooting a runway at Miami International Airport .
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Investigators → set → Airport
This comes as the NTSB released new video of investigators inspecting the crashed plane near Miami International Airport.
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investigators → come → Airport
The two pilots were released from the hospital and are expected to be interviewed on Wednesday morning as
, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a news conference Tuesday night.
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Homendy → release → conference
The captain of the plane is a 55-year-old man, identified as Captain Joseph Carroll, who had 7,145 flight hours as of March 31, and the first officer is a 37-year-old man, identified as Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, who had 2,655 flight hours as of Aug. 31, officials said.
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officials → identify → Aug.
Both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were recovered from the crash site, Homendy had previously disclosed.
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Homendy → recover → site
"The cockpit voice recorder contained more than two hours of good quality audio," Homendy said Tuesday, adding that the flight data recorder had about 55 hours of data.
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recorder → contain → data
Homendy said investigators will wait until after they interview the pilots Wednesday to publicly release the readout of the cockpit voice recorder.
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they → say → recorder
"What we need to do is talk to the crew and get their account to understand how they're manipulating the controls to get a better understanding of the situation," NTSB's lead investigator Chihoon Shin told reporters in the briefing.
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investigator → need → briefing
With the cockpit voice recorder, while we have that data, crew accounts and crew interviews will help fill in some of the blanks for us.
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accounts → have → us
Investigators also plan to speak with air traffic controllers, dispatchers, and others who were at the scene when the crash happened.
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crash → plan → scene
Tuesday was the first full day the NTSB team was on the ground at the crash site, and their focus was to collect perishable evidence, such as drone images, videos of the plane, and tire marks on the runways, Homendy said.
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Homendy → collect → runways
The plane weighed approximately 252,000 pounds at takeoff, including about 32,000 pounds of cargo on board.
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plane → weigh → board
The NTSB team did not find any hazardous material.
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team → find → material
Instead, the plane carried mostly contact lenses, officials said.
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officials → carry → lenses
Shin said that in the recorded data the NTSB obtained, there was no indication that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed.
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brakes → say → data
The goal of both is to help the aircraft slow down or descend more quickly.
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aircraft → help → both
Shin, however, said he won't speculate as to the reason why they were not deployed.
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they → say → reason
"We have an aircraft performance study, and we're going to do that," Shin said.
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Shin → have → that
"Plus, with the flight data recorder analysis, when we analyze the full list of parameters, we'll have a better idea of the aircraft performance during this landing.
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we → analyze → landing
And what was working and what was not?
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what → work → ?
So I'm not gonna speculate on what should have been right now," he said.
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he → go → ?
Homendy has said investigators would focus on the flight's history, the crew's experience and training, and what happened in the moments before impact.
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what → say → impact
The plane, a Boeing 767-33, went down Sunday around 2 p.m. local time after it overran the runway during landing and careened into several vehicles, catching fire in the process.
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it → go → process
The plane came to rest roughly 1,300 feet from the paved runway.
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plane → come → runway
Aerial footage showed a debris field that included vehicles belonging to the victims.
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that → show → victims
Two of Miami International's four runways remained closed Tuesday, with investigators allowing officials to reopen one of the runways partially for departures only.
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officials → remain → departures
Pablo Rojas, an aviation attorney with the firm Podhurst Orseck who is not part of the NTSB investigation, reviewed footage of the crash with CBS News Miami.
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who → review → News
"I think what is clearer from the video, and of course it's one video, and it's early days, is that it was coming in too fast," Rojas said.
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Rojas → think → course
"The horizontal ground that it was covering as you see it approaching and then touching down was too much."
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it → cover → that
Rojas also said something else in the video caught his attention.
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something → say → attention
"In addition to those piloting decisions, I think investigators will also be looking at mechanical issues," he said.
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he → think → issues
"In this approach video that we've been talking about, it looks like, and it's kind of hard to tell, that the landing gear on the left side, the wheels were not making consistent contact with the ground."
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wheels → talk → ground
Rojas also raised questions about why the pilots did not abort the landing and attempt a go-around, a standard procedure in which a pilot pulls up and tries the approach again.
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pilot → raise → approach
In Tuesday's news briefing, NTSB officials said they were unable to definitively say whether a go-around had been attempted.
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around → say → briefing
