At least five people were killed after an Amazon cargo plane ran off a runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday, hit vehicles and burst into flames, authorities said. The crash also left three people critically injured and two others with less serious injuries, while flights at the airport were disrupted for much of the afternoon.
Officials said it was too early to determine whether those who died were on board the aircraft or in the vehicles it struck. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to Miami, led by Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, to investigate, and Amazon said it would cooperate with the inquiry.
Miami-Dade County officials told a news conference that the aircraft overran the runway at about 2 pm after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thick black smoke rose into the sky after the crash. Miami-Dade Rescue Fire Chief Ray Jadallah said the pilot and co-pilot were trapped in the cockpit, while some people in cars were also trapped. The agency said another person was trapped under a vehicle.
Jadallah said fire crews were still dealing with a fuel leak on the plane several hours after the crash. The crash halted flights at the busy airport for much of the afternoon, and about 250 flights were delayed by late afternoon on Sunday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions.
Images from the scene showed the Prime Air plane coming to rest beside a roadway near two lorries. The aircraft appeared to be resting on its belly and was largely intact despite the fire. The flight was operated by 21 Air, a cargo carrier based in North Carolina. According to flight-tracking site Flightradar24, the 32-year-old Boeing 767 was originally built to carry passengers and flew for several airlines for more than two decades before being converted into a cargo plane in 2015.
Amazon said in a statement: “We’re heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today’s incident at Miami International Airport. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss.”
Jackson Lee, who runs an electronics shop near the crash site, said he went outside with four colleagues after the crash and saw smoke rising near the airport’s fences. “We hear planes taking off and landing every five minutes. I thought I’d got used to it,” Lee said. “I never thought it could come this close to us.”
The crash of the Amazon cargo plane on Sunday left at least five people dead, injured several others, disrupted flights at Miami International Airport and prompted a federal investigation, with authorities still working to establish exactly how the deaths occurred.
With PTI Inputs
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