Amazon Air cargo plane flew past nearly half of Miami runway before deadly landing, NTSB says

An Amazon Air cargo plane that careened off the runway in Miami last month didn’t touch down until it was nearly ¾ of a mile past the threshold and the captain didn’t attempt to abort the landing until there was only 930 feet of pavement remaining, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed Thursday.

The preliminary report sheds new light on how an unstable landing at too high of a speed turned deadly.

Five people were killed when the Boeing 767, operated by all-cargo carrier 21Air, overran the runway at Miami International Airport on September 6, striking multiple vehicles, catching fire and sending a thick black plume of smoke into the air. Three people sustained serious injuries, and the two pilots had minor injuries, the NTSB said.

The report also identifies, for the first time, that it was the captain who was flying the Boeing 767 and the first officer who repeatedly warned him the jet was coming in too fast. There was “not a consistent verbal response” from the captain to the warnings about speed, investigators said.

The plane was about 105 feet above the ground and going more than 200 mph as it crossed the threshold of the runway, according to tracking data and the aircraft’s black box, the NTSB said.

The plane flew past 40% of the runway before it finally touched down about 3,750 feet beyond the start of the pavement going about 185 mph. Another 2,880 feet were gone before the plane’s weight was entirely on the ground.

Black box data and the position of the controls in the cockpit show the speed brakes and thrust reversers, which redirect air to slow the plane, were not used.

The pilot did apply the wheel brakes but took his feet off the pedals and called for a “go around” to abort the landing with less than 1000 feet of runway left. Four seconds later, he resumed trying to stop, but it was too late.

The plane rolled past the departure end of the runway and struck navigation equipment and airport lights at about 115 mph. It hit a Ford Econoline passenger van, where five people were killed, and then a Toyota Corolla Cross SUV before finally erupting in flames about 1,200 feet beyond the end of the paved surface, the NTSB said.

The pilot jumped out of the aircraft from the left door while the first officer climbed out a cockpit window.

The September 6 flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami was the third flight of the day for the plane and second for the pilots flying it.

The captain had 7,267 total hours of flight experience, but only 150 hours in the Boeing 767, investigators said. The first officer had 2,800 total hours of flight experience and 800 hours in the 767.

The air traffic controller handling the flight in the control tower at the time of the crash had only been on duty for 17 minutes when the crash happened, the NTSB said. They had a total of 11 years experience and were certified in 2019 to cover this part of Miami International Airport.

Investigators said the controller did not give the pilots information about the wind when they cleared the plane to land, as required. An FAA order, noted by the NTSB, requires both wind direction and velocity to be stated when authorizing the use of a runway when tailwinds exist.

The plane was landing to the north west and winds at the time of the crash were from the south around 20 MPH and gusting to 30 MPH.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

21Air, which operated the plane for Amazon Air, said it was reviewing the preliminary report and is working closely with the NTSB on the investigation.

“Our focus since the accident has been on supporting everyone affected, to include providing resources to those who were injured, the loved ones of those who lost their lives, and our colleagues and commercial partners,” a statement from 21Air said. “We will take all appropriate action to improve our safety based on the facts as they are established.”

Amazon Air suspended its operations with 21Air after the crash.

The NTSB has not yet identified the cause of the accident, which usually takes more than a year to determine.

The probe is focused on identifying what happened and why. It does not assign blame or any sort of criminal liability, instead focusing on preventing an accident from ever happening again.

美国国家运输安全委员会周四透露，上个月在迈阿密冲出跑道的亚马逊航空一架货机，直到冲出跑道入口近四分之三英里后才着陆，而且直到跑道只剩下 930 英尺的柏油路时，机长才试图中止着陆。

初步报告揭示了高速不稳定着陆如何导致致命事故的真相。

9月6日，一架由全货运航空公司21Air运营的波音767客机在迈阿密国际机场冲出跑道，撞上多辆汽车，随后起火并冒出滚滚浓烟，造成机上5人死亡。美国国家运输安全委员会（NTSB）称，其中3人重伤，两名飞行员轻伤。

报告还首次指出，驾驶波音767客机的是机长，而副驾驶曾多次警告他飞机进场速度过快。调查人员表示，机长对这些速度警告“没有做出一致的口头回应”。

据美国国家运输安全委员会 (NTSB) 称，根据跟踪数据和飞机黑匣子显示，飞机在越过跑道入口时，距离地面约 105 英尺，速度超过 200 英里/小时。

飞机飞越了跑道40%的距离后，最终在距离跑道起点约3750英尺的地方着陆，速度约为185英里/小时。又飞了2880英尺后，飞机的重量才完全落在地面上。

黑匣子数据和驾驶舱内控制装置的位置表明，减速板和反推装置（用于改变气流方向以减慢飞机速度）没有被使用。

飞行员确实踩下了轮刹，但却松开了脚蹬，并呼叫复飞，试图中止着陆，当时跑道剩余长度不足1000英尺。四秒钟后，他再次尝试刹车，但为时已晚。

据美国国家运输安全委员会 (NTSB) 称，飞机滑过跑道起飞端，以约 115 英里/小时的速度撞上导航设备和机场灯光。它先是撞上一辆福特 Econoline 客车，造成车内五人死亡，然后又撞上一辆丰田 Corolla Cross SUV，最终在跑道尽头约 1200 英尺外起火燃烧。

飞行员从左侧舱门跳出飞机，而副驾驶则从驾驶舱窗户爬了出去。

9 月 6 日从波多黎各圣胡安飞往迈阿密的航班是该飞机当天的第三次飞行，也是驾驶该飞机的飞行员的第二次飞行。

调查人员称，机长拥有7267小时的总飞行经验，但只有150小时是波音767的飞行时间。副驾驶拥有2800小时的总飞行经验，其中800小时是波音767的飞行时间。

美国国家运输安全委员会（NTSB）表示，事发时在塔台指挥该航班的空中交通管制员上岗仅17分钟。该管制员拥有11年的工作经验，并于2019年获得认证，负责迈阿密国际机场该区域的管制工作。

调查人员表示，管制员在允许飞机着陆时，没有按规定向飞行员提供风向信息。美国国家运输安全委员会（NTSB）指出，美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）的一项指令要求，在顺风情况下授权使用跑道时，必须同时说明风向和风速。

飞机当时正向西北方向降落，坠机时风向为南风，风速约为每小时 20 英里，阵风可达每小时 30 英里。

乔·雷德尔/盖蒂图片社

为亚马逊航空运营该飞机的 21Air 公司表示，他们正在审查初步报告，并与美国国家运输安全委员会密切合作进行调查。

21Air在一份声明中表示：“自事故发生以来，我们的工作重点一直是为所有受影响的人提供支持，包括为伤者、遇难者家属以及我们的同事和商业伙伴提供资源。我们将根据已查明的事实，采取一切适当措施来改进我们的安全措施。”

事故发生后，亚马逊航空暂停了与 21Air 的合作运营。

美国国家运输安全委员会尚未确定事故原因，通常需要一年以上的时间才能确定。

调查的重点在于查明事故发生的原因和经过，不涉及追究责任或任何刑事责任，而是着重于防止类似事故再次发生。