Flight recorders retrieved from deadly Amazon cargo plane crash in Miami
Investigators have recovered the flight recorders from the Amazon cargo plane that crashed at Miami International Airport, though recovering victims remains the top priority. Five people died and five more were seriously hurt in the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been retrieved from the Boeing 767-300 that crashed at Miami International Airport on Sunday, and are being sent to agency headquarters for analysis.
The aircraft, operated by 21 Air, was arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, on its third flight of the day when it overran the runway just before 2pm local time. Five people were killed and five others seriously injured.
How the crash unfolded
After running off the runway, the plane struck navigational equipment, then hit a white Ford van belonging to a contract cleaning company, before breaking through a perimeter fence and colliding with a Toyota Corolla. It finally came to rest roughly 394 metres past the end of the runway. Seven people were in the van and three were in the car at the time of impact.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy described the scene as devastating, with wreckage from the plane, vehicles and fencing scattered widely. She said the immediate focus was on recovering victims' remains, while access to the aircraft and evidence gathering could wait.
Investigation ahead
Homendy cautioned it was too soon to draw any conclusions, saying investigators remain in a fact-finding phase. The probe will cover the crew's flight history, training and experience, radar data, aircraft performance, plus separate reviews of the plane's systems and engines, and a meteorological assessment of conditions at landing. BBC Verify had earlier found an active thunderstorm near the airport shortly before the crash, with wind gusts reaching 26 knots.
Investigators also plan to examine whether the runway should have been fitted with an engineered arresting system designed to stop planes that overshoot. Two of the airport's four runways remain closed, and further disruption to flights is expected. Both Amazon and 21 Air have expressed condolences and said they are cooperating with the investigation.
