A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that an air traffic controller failed to inform the pilots of an Amazon cargo plane about potential strong tailwinds prior to their landing in Miami, which resulted in the aircraft veering off the runway and causing five fatalities last month. The incident occurred on September 6, when the plane, carrying packages from Puerto Rico, landed at Miami International Airport and traveled approximately 1,200 feet past the runway's end, colliding with a van carrying airport cleaning personnel.
The report noted that just four minutes before the landing clearance, the controller provided a wind advisory to another flight, indicating gusts of up to 25 mph from the south. However, the controller did not relay similar information to the Amazon cargo plane's pilots. Federal regulations stipulate that both wind direction and velocity must be communicated when a tailwind component is present during runway authorization.
While the preliminary report did not determine the crash's cause, it stated that the investigation could extend beyond a year. Experts indicated that weather conditions likely contributed to the accident, as tailwinds can hinder a pilot's ability to slow the aircraft and may lead to overshooting the landing area. Tony Mello, a former Federal Aviation Administration official, emphasized the controller's responsibility to inform pilots of such conditions, especially during landing.
Former NTSB member John Goglia noted that while the failure to communicate wind conditions was a significant oversight, it alone would not have caused the crash, as accidents typically result from a series of events. The cockpit voice recordings indicated that one pilot repeatedly cautioned about their speed during the landing approach, but the other pilot did not consistently respond. The two pilots had flown together for the first time that day.
The NTSB report stated that the aircraft was traveling at 184 mph upon touchdown and was already past the runway's start. The pilots may have attempted to abort the landing too late, as data showed that the brakes were applied and then released before being reapplied with only about 415 feet of runway remaining. The plane exited the pavement while still moving at 130 mph, striking airport equipment and the cleaning crew's van before crashing through a perimeter fence and hitting a car on a public road.
In response to the incident, Amazon suspended its partnership with 21 Air, the operator of the plane, which had been delivering packages for the company since 2024. The Boeing 767 involved in the crash was 32 years old and had been converted to a cargo aircraft in June 2016. 21 Air stated that safety is a core focus of its operations and that it is reviewing the NTSB report alongside its internal safety protocols to enhance safety measures.
This crash follows another incident less than a year prior, when a UPS cargo plane crashed at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport after losing an engine during takeoff, resulting in the deaths of all three pilots and 12 individuals on the ground, with 23 others injured.