What we know about a cargo plane careening off a Miami runway, killing at least 5

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As it started its descent under dark clouds over Miami International Airport, it was hard to tell from a distance there were any problems with the Boeing 767-300 bearing Amazon’s “Smile” logo on the tail fin.

But as the plane got closer to touchdown Sunday, something clearly was wrong .

The jet seemed to hover, video posted to social media showed, going well beyond the usual landing zone for Runway 30. But even after two of its landing gear made it to the ground, the left rear gear continued to bounce along the runway.

By the time it reached the runway’s end, the plane was still going nearly 130 miles per hour, tracking data from Flightradar24 showed.

It barreled across a small grassy patch, then through a chain link fence with razor wire. Concrete barriers designed to keep cars out of the secure area crumbled as the jet, weighing more than 100 tons, headed straight for a four-lane road.

Slicing across the pavement, the aircraft struck several vehicles – including one left flipped onto its side and twisted into an arc not unlike the tail fin logo – before sliding to a fiery stop just shy of a parking lot filled with dozens of cars.

Al Diaz/Miami Herald/Tribune New Service/Getty Images

“Plane’s on fire!” a first responder soon shouted on an emergency radio channel. “Put your game faces on.”

At least five people died and five were injured , though the victims’ location during the crash and the condition of the pilots rescued from the cockpit still isn’t clear. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to hold a news conference Monday on its investigation.

The catastrophe left Miami’s airport operating with just two of its normal four runways on a busy Labor Day and raised questions about whether the facility needs better equipment to prevent an overshooting aircraft from leaving airport property.

Here’s what we know so far about the incident.

The cargo plane tried to land around 2 p.m. ET Sunday on a runway more than 9,000 feet long. But the jet rose above the normal path aircraft take on their approach to Runway 30 before dropping altitude to return back into proper position, tracking data from Flightradar24 showed.

The plane had passed through a developing thunderstorm as it approached the airport, one of several pop-up storms in the area, tracking data appeared to show.

During the landing, the direction of the wind suddenly changed, said David Soucie, a CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector, giving Flight 7598 a tailwind that may have made it more difficult to slow down.

“You’re picking up speed instead of bleeding speed off at that point,” Soucie said.

The pilots did not inform air traffic controllers of any problems with the plane prior to landing, air traffic control audio indicated.

The plane landed almost parallel to the ground instead of with the standard “flare” maneuver, in which the nose lifts at the last moment so the rear landing gear touches the ground first, social media video showed.

As the jet came to rest near the parking lot past the runway, a fire erupted around its crumpled starboard engine – on the right when facing forward – social media video showed.

Flames and thick black smoke rose from the aircraft as rescue crews rushed in to douse it with fire retardant. Over 60 fire rescue units and some 200 firefighters responded, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Raied “Ray” Jadallah said Sunday during a news conference.

Five people were killed, Jadallah said. Five others were injured, with three taken to a trauma center in critical condition.

Rescue workers used a ladder to access the plane’s interior through a cockpit window, social media video showed. Several victims trapped in vehicles struck by the plane were extracted by firefighters, Jadallah said.

It’s not yet clear whether those killed were in the plane, in the vehicles struck during the crash or elsewhere.

The plane was a 32-year-old Boeing 767 en route from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami.

It was operated by 21 Air, a cargo carrier headquartered in North Carolina with an operations center in Miami. 21 Air works for several companies and is one of nine flight vendors for Amazon Air, which operates more than 250 carriers daily to ship customer packages.

Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

“We’re heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today’s incident at Miami International Airport,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told CNN in a statement. “Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss.”

The crash scene and cleanup at are causing delays. Flights headed to the South Florida hub were expected to be an average of 2 1/2 hours late, the Federal Aviation Administration advised at 7 a.m.

Two of the airport’s four runways are closed for most of Monday, an FAA notices to pilots stated. Runway 30, where the Amazon Boeing 767 tried to land, as well as Runway 26L, just north of it, are closed until 7 p.m. ET.

As of 10 a.m., 65 flights in or out Miami were canceled and about 140 delayed, tracking site FlightAware reported.

Runway excursions – when airplanes go off the runway – are the No. 1 incident involving airplanes worldwide, according to data from the International Air Transport Association.

While the cause of Sunday’s crash is still under investigation, Miami International Airport lacks a key safety feature that might have prevented the aircraft from overrunning the airport property and reaching a roadway, aviation experts said.

Tom Brenner/Getty Images

AI probe of aviation close calls leads FAA to limit how helicopters can fly around busy airports

The Engineered Material Arresting System – or EMAS – places a series of concrete pads at the end of a runway. Although they look solid, the lightweight material is designed to be crushed under the weight of an airplane.

“When the airplane goes off the end of the runway, the wheels crunch into it. The plane is stopped,” said Mary Schiavo, a CNN transportation analyst and former inspector general of the Department of Transportation.

“An airport this surrounded by population, they need an arrestor bed system at the end of these runways to stop this from happening again,” she said.

CNN has reached out to the FAA and the airport for comment.

CNN’s Pete Muntean, Aaron Cooper, Graham Hurley and Amanda Musa contributed to this report.

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当这架波音 767-300 飞机在迈阿密国际机场上空的乌云下开始下降时，从远处很难看出这架飞机的尾翼上印有亚马逊的“微笑”标志有什么问题。

但周日飞机接近着陆时，显然出了问题。

社交媒体上发布的视频显示，这架喷气式飞机似乎悬停在跑道上，远远超出了30号跑道的通常着陆区。但即使它的两个起落架已经着地，左后起落架仍然在跑道上弹跳。

Flightradar24 的跟踪数据显示，飞机到达跑道尽头时，速度仍然接近每小时 130 英里。

它横冲直撞地穿过一小片草地，然后又撞穿了带刺铁丝网的铁丝网。为了阻止汽车进入安全区域而设计的混凝土路障，在这架重达100多吨的喷气式飞机径直冲向一条四车道公路时，也随之坍塌。

飞机横穿人行道，撞上了几辆车——其中一辆被撞翻在地，扭曲成一个类似飞机尾翼标志的弧形——然后滑行到停在停满数十辆汽车的停车场前，燃起熊熊大火。

Al Diaz/迈阿密先驱报/论坛新闻社/盖蒂图片社

“飞机着火了！”一名救援人员很快通过紧急无线电频道喊道，“大家集中注意力！”

至少五人死亡，五人受伤，但遇难者在坠机时的具体位置以及从驾驶舱获救的飞行员的状况仍不清楚。美国国家运输安全委员会预计将于周一召开新闻发布会，公布调查结果。

这场灾难导致迈阿密机场在繁忙的劳动节当天只有四条跑道中的两条投入运营，并引发了人们对该机场是否需要更好的设备来防止冲出跑道的飞机离开机场范围的质疑。

以下是我们目前了解到的事件详情。

这架货机于美国东部时间周日下午2点左右试图降落在一条超过9000英尺长的跑道上。但Flightradar24的跟踪数据显示，这架飞机在进近30号跑道时，先是上升到了正常飞机进近航线之外，之后才下降高度回到正确位置。

飞机在接近机场时穿过了一场正在形成的雷暴，跟踪数据显示，这是该地区几场突发雷暴之一。

CNN 安全分析师、前 FAA 安全检查员大卫·苏西表示，在着陆过程中，风向突然改变，给 7598 航班带来了顺风，这可能使飞机更难减速。

“在那个时候，你的速度不是在下降，而是在加速，”苏西说。

空中交通管制音频显示，飞行员在着陆前没有向空中交通管制员报告飞机的任何问题。

社交媒体上的视频显示，这架飞机着陆时几乎与地面平行，而不是采用标准的“拉平”动作，即在最后一刻抬起机头，使后起落架先着地。

社交媒体上的视频显示，当这架喷气式飞机在跑道尽头的停车场附近停下时，其右侧（面向前方时位于右侧）坍塌的发动机周围燃起了大火。

飞机起火时，浓浓的黑烟滚滚升起，救援人员迅速赶到现场，用阻燃剂扑灭火焰。迈阿密-戴德县消防救援局局长雷德·“雷”·贾达拉周日在新闻发布会上表示，超过60个消防救援小组和约200名消防员参与了救援。

贾达拉表示，五人死亡，另有五人受伤，其中三人伤势危重，已被送往创伤中心。

社交媒体上的视频显示，救援人员使用梯子从驾驶舱窗口进入飞机内部。贾达拉表示，消防员救出了多名被困在飞机撞击车辆中的受害者。

目前尚不清楚遇难者是在飞机上、坠毁事故中被撞车辆内，还是在其他地方。

这架飞机是一架机龄 32 年的波音 767，从波多黎各圣胡安飞往迈阿密。

该航班由总部位于北卡罗来纳州、运营中心设在迈阿密的货运公司21 Air运营。21 Air为多家公司提供服务，是亚马逊航空的九家航班供应商之一。亚马逊航空每天运营超过250家航空公司，为客户运送包裹。

Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

亚马逊发言人凯莉·南特尔在一份声明中告诉CNN：“我们对今天迈阿密国际机场发生的事故中五人丧生感到无比悲痛。我们向遇难者家属、亲友以及所有受此悲剧影响的人们致以最深切的慰问。”

事故现场和清理工作造成了延误。美国联邦航空管理局早上7点发布消息称，飞往南佛罗里达枢纽的航班预计平均延误2.5小时。

美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）向飞行员发布的通知称，该机场的四条跑道中有两条在周一的大部分时间里关闭。亚马逊波音767客机试图降落的30号跑道，以及其北侧的26L跑道，都将关闭至美国东部时间晚上7点。

据航班追踪网站 FlightAware 报道，截至上午 10 点，进出迈阿密的航班有 65 个被取消，约 140 个航班延误。

根据国际航空运输协会的数据，跑道偏离事故（飞机冲出跑道）是全球航空事故中排名第一的事件。

航空专家表示，虽然周日坠机事故的原因仍在调查中，但迈阿密国际机场缺少一项关键的安全功能，而这项功能或许可以阻止飞机冲出机场范围并到达公路。

汤姆·布伦纳/盖蒂图片社

人工智能对航空险情的调查促使美国联邦航空管理局限制直升机在繁忙机场上空的飞行方式。

工程材料阻拦系统（EMAS）在跑道末端设置一系列混凝土垫。虽然它们看起来很坚固，但这种轻质材料的设计目的是在飞机撞击时被压碎。

“当飞机冲出跑道尽头时，轮子会撞到跑道尽头，飞机就会停下来，”美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）交通分析师、前交通部监察长玛丽·斯基亚沃说道。

“像这样被人口密集区包围的机场，需要在跑道末端安装阻拦床系统，以防止此类事件再次发生，”她说。

CNN已联系美国联邦航空管理局和机场寻求置评。

CNN的Pete Muntean、Aaron Cooper、Graham Hurley和Amanda Musa对本报道亦有贡献。