Federal investigators revealed on September 8 that flight recorder data from an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane suggests the pilots may have considered aborting their landing attempt moments before the aircraft crashed at Miami International Airport. The accident, which occurred shortly before 2 p.m. on September 6, resulted in the deaths of five people, all of whom were occupants of two ground vehicles.
The aircraft, a Boeing 767-33A operated by 21 Air LLC, arrived from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and overran the runway, leaving a crash path of 1,300 feet beyond the paved surface. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy described the scene as one of "utter devastation." The five fatalities were occupants of a van owned by a contract airline cleaning company and another vehicle, according to Homendy.
Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz confirmed that five other individuals were injured, including the two pilots on board, who were treated and released from hospitals. Three victims remain hospitalized, with two in critical condition and one in stable condition.
During a news conference on September 8, NTSB investigator Chihoon Shin provided technical details from the flight data recorder. The aircraft's nose landing gear and right main landing gear touched down about 30 seconds before the recording ended, while the left main landing gear touched down approximately 19 seconds before the recording concluded.
A few seconds later, the brakes were released and the throttles were increased to values consistent with "go-around thrust," Shin stated. He added that there was no indication in the recorded data that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed.
Investigators plan to interview both pilots on September 9 before releasing a summary of the cockpit voice recorder, which captured over two hours of audio. The flight data recorder contained about 55 hours of data and recorded more than 400 aircraft parameters. Homendy emphasized that the agency wants to hear the pilots' accounts of the accident before releasing the voice recorder readout.
The pilots were identified as 37-year-old First Officer Jaime Felipe Silva Molina and 55-year-old Captain Joseph Carol. According to medical records, Carol had logged 7,145 flight hours as of March, while Molina had logged 2,655 hours as of August.
The van involved in the crash was a 2012 Ford Econoline owned by Professional Ocean Service Corp., which was carrying seven employees inside airport property. The other vehicle struck was a Toyota Corolla Cross, which was traveling outside the airport's perimeter fence.
The NTSB investigation remains ongoing, with teams spending September 8 documenting the crash scene, measuring runway and tire marks, collecting debris, and examining the aircraft.
The aircraft departed with a takeoff weight of 252,182 pounds and was expected to land at 231,236 pounds, carrying 32,222 pounds of cargo consisting primarily of contact lenses. Investigators confirmed no hazardous materials were aboard. The flight was the third of the day for the aircraft, which had previously flown from Cincinnati to Miami and from Miami to San Juan earlier on September 6.
More than 60 rescue units and approximately 200 emergency personnel responded to the crash, working to free trapped occupants as fuel leaked and the plane burned. While the airport initially ceased all flights, operations resumed by the evening of September 6, and by the evening of September 8, one runway was reopened for departures in the easterly direction.
The incident prompted the airport to close two of its four runways. Though the airport stopped all flights immediately after the crash, flights had resumed by the evening of Sept. 6.
