Amazon Cargo Plane Overruns Miami Runway, Killing Five

A Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft operating as 21 Air Flight 7598 for Amazon Prime Air overran Runway 30 at Miami International Airport around 2:00 p.m. local time on Sunday, September 6. The plane had departed from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After landing, it continued past the runway end, crossed NW 67th Avenue, and struck multiple vehicles before coming to rest near an Amazon warehouse.

The aircraft caught fire, sending thick black smoke into the sky. More than 60 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene. Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz confirmed at a press conference that five people were killed and five others injured and hospitalized. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava also cited the same casualty figures.

“The flight 7598 of 21 Air invaded the runway after landing at Miami International Airport around 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, September 6. The FAA will investigate.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified the aircraft as a 21 Air flight, while a Miami airport spokesperson referred to it as a Prime Air flight; 21 Air lists Prime Air, an Amazon company, as a client. The 32-year-old jet landed on Runway 30, which exceeds 9,000 feet. Air traffic control audio reviewed by CNN indicated the pilots did not declare an emergency before landing.

All runways and taxiways at Miami International were closed, and a ground stop halted arrivals and departures. Three American Airlines flights en route to Miami were diverted to San Juan. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have opened investigations into the cause of the overrun.