Fatal Amazon Cargo Plane Crash Kills Five In Miami

An Amazon cargo plane crashed on the runway at the Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, killing five. The plane overran the runway upon landing just before 2:00 p.m. and skidded onto a public road and into a parking lot, where collisions with several vehicles occurred. The plane also caught fire after crashing. At the moment, it isn't clear why Amazon's cargo plane didn't stop, and the Miami Herald reports the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation of the crash is still ongoing. 

At least for now, authorities have not identified the victims or released details about how they died. We do know, however, that some people were trapped inside their cars following the crash and that, in addition to the dead, at least five others were injured. At least one person was trapped under a car and had to be carefully extracted, and a total of three were listed in critical condition. The Herald reports that several of those who died "were on the ground," suggesting they were in cars or otherwise not on board the plane when it crashed. 

According to the Herald:

It was a "complex" search and rescue, extraction and fire, the chief said, emphasizing that it was a "very complex situation." There was an active fuel leak, which was being addressed as officials briefed reporters around 6 p.m. 

The pilot and co-pilot were also trapped in the plane, Jadallah said, although it was not clear how long — or the extent of crew members' injuries. 

The resulting fire from the crash sent large puffs of black smoke into the air. A firefighter was heard on the radio telling his colleagues, "The plane is on fire. The plane is on fire. Put your game faces on, guys."

The crash brought all flights in and out of Miami International Airport to a halt for several hours on Sunday. According to the Herald, it took about three hours to open two of Miami's four runways, but as of Monday morning, no additional progress had been made opening the other two. For travelers on their way home from holiday travel, that meant long delays and canceled flights. Per the Herald:

The Federal Aviation Administration maintained an advisory for MIA on Monday, saying it was experiencing a ground delay. The average delay was two hours and 31 minutes, as of about 10 a.m. Monday, it said. 

The impact of Sunday's crash continued to be felt. At MIA, 141 flights were delayed, including 42 departures and 99 arrivals. Meanwhile, it had 65 cancellations, affecting 28 departures and 37 arrivals as of 10 a.m. Monday, according to Flight Aware.

Additionally, the Miami airport released an update saying, "Because of aircraft and flight crews not arriving at MIA due to the cancellations yesterday, we will continue to see impacts to operations throughout the day," adding, "Passengers with flights scheduled today should check directly with their airline for flight status updates before heading to the airport."

21 Air, a transportation company that operates the plane under contract with Amazon, has also issued a statement attributed to its CEO Keith Winters:

We are devastated by the accident involving one of our aircraft in Miami today. 

Our deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives. Our immediate priorities are supporting those affected, assisting the authorities, and ensuring that accurate information is communicated as it becomes available.

While official details on the cause of the crash are still scarce, the Miami Herald spoke with aviation attorney Pablo Rojas, who said the footage reveals a few key details. According to Rojas, a landing gear failure seems likely, but it's unclear whether that was the main cause of the crash or if something else went wrong first, causing the landing gear to fail:

You can see it stops in this parking lot area with the landing gear collapsed. The nose is kind of dipping down. We don't know if that's something that happened late in the accident sequence or early enough to have caused the accident sequence.

You can imagine the incident being caused by something else and then the landing gear collapsing, but certainly if there was an issue with the landing gear early in the accident sequence, that's going to be the first clue for investigators.

Rojas also told the Herald that a week of frequent storms would have also made it trickier to land safely. "We know we've had rain in Miami recently. Air traffic control needs to help the pilot understand the condition of the runway," Rojas said. "Planes can land in nasty weather, but obviously, if the runway is slick that can sometimes cause air traffic control to pause or stop landings for a period of time."

Regardless of why the plane crashed, we just hope the people in the hospital recover quickly, and our thoughts are with those who just lost a loved one.