An Amazon cargo plane crashed at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, resulting in five fatalities and multiple people taken to area hospitals. The aircraft, a Boeing 767, was operating as Flight 7598 and had departed from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The plane was attempting to land on a diagonal runway when it overran the landing area and came to rest in a field adjacent to the airport.
Video footage from social media showed the aircraft off the runway with its tail over the fence and thick black smoke rising from the wreckage, according to NPR. The crash occurred shortly after the plane touched down, and it overshot the runway as it struck multiple vehicles nearby, according to a report from The Daily Beast. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded with over 60 units to the scene, and crews worked to extinguish flames and rescue trapped individuals, CBS News reported.
Three of the injured were taken to a trauma center in critical condition, while others were assessed and transported to local hospitals. The plane was operated by 21 Air, according to an Amazon spokesperson. Amazon said it was heartbroken by the incident and that it was working with local authorities to understand what happened.
Miami-Dade Aviation Department said the aircraft had come to rest at the northwest end of the airport and was disabled. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the crash would be investigated, as it is standard procedure for such incidents. The Boeing 767-300 involved in the crash was 32 years old and had been converted from a passenger plane to cargo use in 2015.
Local officials advised residents and motorists to avoid the area near 67th Avenue and 25th Street due to the crash site. No public safety threat was reported after the incident, and two of the airport’s runways were reopened shortly afterward. Amazon stated that it would cooperate fully with any investigation into the crash and emphasized its priority on the safety of all involved.
The plane’s crew members were not immediately identified, and no further information was provided about their condition. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Ray Jadallah described the situation as complex, with specialized rescue teams needed to extricate victims from damaged vehicles. The crash was one of the most serious aviation incidents at Miami International Airport in recent years.
IMAGE: Prime Air Boeing 767-300 N337AZ BWI MD1 Acroterion Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International