An investigation is under way after an Amazon cargo plane overran a runway while landing at Miami airport on Sunday, killing five people.
The Boeing 767-300 hit several vehicles before coming to rest beside a car park, then burst into flames. The incident seriously injured five other people and brought operations at one of the busiest airports in the US to a standstill during Labour Day weekend.
The incident is the latest setback for the aerospace manufacturer that has faced a series of major controversies over the last eight years, including fatal crashes, flawed software and safety failures.
What happened – the facts
The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) confirmed the crash in a statement to The Guardian, saying: “Air Flight 7598 overran the runway after landing at Miami international airport around 2pm local time on Sunday, 6 September”.
It said the plane departed from Luis Muñoz Marín airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The 32-year-old plane was flying for Amazon Prime Air.
A spokesperson for Miami airport told the newspaper that the cargo plane overshot the airport’s diagonal runway, which is more than 9,000ft long. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue posted on X that over 200 firefighters responded to the incident. “One person was trapped under one of the involved vehicles and had to be extricated by specialised technical rescue personnel,” it added.
Three of the five people injured were in critical condition, Miami fire chief Raied Jadallah said. It is not clear whether the people that died were on the plane or on the ground at the time.
The incident occurred ahead of Labour Day, a US public holiday and a busy time for air travel. More than 450 flights in and out of the airport were delayed or cancelled as of Sunday night, according to FlightAware.com.
Kelly Nantel, Amazon’s director of corporate global media relations, said: “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.
“The airplane, which was operated by 21 Air, was attempting to land when this incident occurred. We’re working closely with local authorities and officials to learn more and will co-operate fully with any investigation,” she added.
What might have gone wrong
It is not yet clear what caused the accident, but the National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation, as has the FAA. A team of investigators were at the scene on Sunday evening.
Investigators will be looking into several areas, including piloting, the weather, the condition of the plane and the airfield. David Soucie, a former FAA safety inspector, told CNN that aeroplanes typically land “nose up”, but a video of the crash showed the plane came in more level.
He added that it was also unusual for the left landing gear to not be touching the ground by the time the plane was halfway down the runway and that the plane did not appear to be slowing down properly.
According to data from tracking site Flightradar24 the plane was going 112 knots (129mph) when it left the “useable runway”. It has been reported that the pilots did not declare an emergency before landing.
A blog post on Flightradar24 said there were thunderstorms and gusting winds in Miami at the time of landing.
Boeing controversies
This was yet another bad day for Boeing, which has seen an array of controversies over the last decade, most of which have been blamed on a company culture obsessed with profit over safety.
It is not clear if there were issues with the plane, but in January 2024, an emergency exit door blew off a brand new Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland airport. There were no fatalities. An investigation found that Boeing had improperly fitted the outsourced fuselage and door plug parts in cost-cutting moves.
Wreckage of the Boeing 737 Max that crashed in Ethiopia in 2019, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members aboard (Photo: Michael Tewelde/AFP)In 2018 and 2019 there were also two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes, which killed 346 people, due to flawed software which repeatedly pushed the plane nose down.
Life-saving solution
One solution that might have prevented the incident from causing such damage is known as the Engineered Material Arresting System (Emas), or Arrestor Beds, which Miami airport does not currently have.
Emas are a bed of crushable concrete blocks placed at the end of the runway, designed to stop planes moving at 80mph or less. The tires of the aircraft sink into the lightweight material, leading to a rapid deceleration as it rolls through the blocks.
However, given the speed the plane was travelling at when it left the usable runway, is it not clear how much of an effect it would have had.
About 120 runways have installed Emas across 70 airports in the US, according to the FAA. To date, 19 planes have been safely stopped by arrestor beds, protecting hundreds of crew and passengers. Installation costs typically range between £3m and £7m.
The system was developed in the 1990s for airports that did not have enough land to build conventional runway run-off areas. It was first installed at New York’s JFK in 1996. Once installed, maintenance is straightforward, with regular inspections and replacements after an incident.
In September last year, the system safely stopped a plane carrying 50 passengers and three crew members from overrunning during a landing in heavy rain at Roanoke-Blackburg regional airport in Virginia. No one was injured in the incident.
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