A Boeing 767 freighter carrying Amazon cargo touched down on runway 30 at Miami International Airport at about 1.58pm local time on Sunday, ran out of pavement, went through the perimeter fence, crossed a public road and struck vehicles before catching fire. The crash killed five people and injured five more. Both pilots survived. Officials had not said by Monday whether the dead were on the ground or aboard the aircraft.
The aircraft was a 32-year-old 767-300 converted to a freighter, registration N1997A, operated by 21 Air, a North Carolina cargo carrier that flies for Amazon's Prime Air network. It had come from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and thunderstorms were over Miami when it arrived. Flightradar24 tracking data shows it still moving at 112 knots, roughly 207kmph, as it left the runway. CNN reviewed air traffic control recordings and reported that the crew declared no emergency before landing. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent a go-team led by its chair, Jennifer Homendy, and has not said what went wrong.
Boeing's 2025 Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents places 35% of all fatal accidents in the worldwide commercial jet fleet between 2016 and 2025 in the landing phase. Cruise, which fills most of an airliner's hours in the air, accounts for 10% of fatal accidents.
