At least five dead after Amazon plane overruns runway at Miami Airport
Posted , updated
In short:
An Amazon cargo plane has overrun a runway at Miami International Airport, striking several vehicles.
Officials say Prime Air Flight 7598 overran the airport's diagonal runway on Sunday afternoon local time, with all runways closed as a result.
What's next?
Officials had not yet released information on injuries or deaths.
An Amazon cargo plane has barrelled off a runway at Miami International Airport, striking multiple vehicles and bursting into flames in a crash that sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky and forced the closure of all runways at one of the United States's busiest airports.
More than 60 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the crash, arriving to find the aircraft on fire as crews worked to extinguish the flames and assess patients. Officials had not yet released information on injuries or deaths.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft overran the runway about 2pm on Sunday, local time, after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials said the plane struck multiple vehicles after leaving the runway.
The cargo plane overran a runway at Miami International Airport. (Reuters: Marco Bello)
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA was sending investigators and had issued a full ground stop at Miami International as emergency crews responded.
"At approximately 2pm today, Prime Air flight 7598 overran Miami International Airport's diagonal runway and is disabled at the north-west end of the airport," the airport said in a statement.
"All runways and taxiways at [Miami International Airport] are currently closed as of 3pm. and a ground stop is in effect."
The Prime Air plane came to rest beside a roadway near two semi-trucks, according to images from the scene. The aircraft appeared to be resting on its belly and was largely intact despite the fire.
All runways and taxiways were closed, an airport spokesperson said. About 250 flights were delayed at the airport as of late afternoon Sunday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions.
The FAA warned that delays were likely to persist even after the airport reopened, with arrivals and departures expected to resume at a reduced rate.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was "gathering information".
"We're working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a social media post.
"Right now, our absolute priority is the safety, well-being, and care of everyone involved."
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.