An Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 cargo plane overshot the runway at Miami International Airport, crossed a road and struck multiple vehicles. Firefighters are on the scene assessing patients and the exact number of injuries is not yet known.
An Amazon Prime cargo aircraft crashed into a busy road after overshooting a runway, sending a huge plume of smoke into the air.
Social media reports indicate that the Prime Air Boeing 767 had gone beyond the runway at Miami International Airport and ended up crossing a road. Emergency crews are treating casualties, though the precise number of injuries remains unclear at this stage.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue confirmed the Prime Air cargo aircraft “struck multiple vehicles” following its runway overshoot. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement soon after news of the crash broke. “21 Air Flight 7598 overran the runway after landing at Miami International Airport around 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, Sept. 6,” the FAA wrote.
“The Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft departed from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The FAA will investigate. Contact the airline for additional information,” reports the Mirror US.
The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSSC), part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), issued a ground stop around 2:30 p. m.
Footage filmed at the scene revealed thick black smoke pouring from the aircraft.
One clip shared by local broadcaster NBC 6 News appeared to show the enormous plane had ploughed into the edge of a busy carriageway where motorists were travelling. Some seemed to be performing U-turns to steer clear of the incident.
Two lorries were positioned next to the aircraft, which was producing heavy smoke but remained in one piece. A map monitoring the aircraft’s movements seems to indicate that the plane carried on straight past the runway’s end, and into a green area at the other side.
On X, a user reported that the airport was “closed until at least 3:00PM local time due to the incident.”
The Labour Day weekend is one of the busiest times of the entire year at Miami International Airport. The airport had braced itself for higher than usual passenger numbers, which will inevitably be impacted by the ground stop.
Last November, a UPS cargo plane veered off the runway and erupted into flames in Louisville, Kentucky, resulting in the deaths of 12 people.
On X, one user drew comparisons between the tragedies, asking, “Is this similar to the UPS one in Louisville? Why does this keep happening?”.