National Transportation Safety Board (NTBS) chair Jennifer Homendy has called the scene where an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane crashed at Miami International Airport on Sunday “utter devastation.”
The crash scene remains active and is causing flight delays with two of the airport’s four runways still closed as the NTSB investigates what caused the plane crash. According to the tracker FlightAware, the airport is currently experiencing inbound flights delayed at their origin an average of 2 hours 11 minutes.
MIA has posted the following advisory on its website: “Two of MIA’s four runways remain closed. Cancellations continue due to aircraft and flight crews not having arrived. Passengers with flights scheduled today should check directly with their airline for flight updates before heading to the airport.”
Prime Air Flight 7598 overran the airport’s diagonal runway shortly before 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday and struck multiple vehicles on the ground, officials said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.
The five people who were killed when the plane overran a runway were passengers in vehicles on the ground, according to the NTBS. Five others were injured, some in critical condition.
The aircraft was a Boeing 767-300 that had departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to the FAA. Cargo airline 21 Air operated the aircraft on behalf of Amazon, an Amazon spokesperson said.
The plane came to rest near a roadway and two semi-trucks. Reuters photographs taken after the crash showed the jet resting on its belly with its nose on the ground and its tail raised into the air. Scorch marks were visible on the aircraft’s right side.
