An Amazon Boeing 767 cargo plane overran a runway at Miami airport on September 6, 2026, killing five people on the ground after pilots performed abnormal actions in the cockpit during landing.
The National Transportation Safety Board said findings from the flight data recorder showed the crew released the brakes and increased engine power moments after touchdown before attempting to slow the aircraft down again.
Three other people suffered serious injuries when the runaway jet traveled nearly 400 metres past the end of the runway and collided with two vehicles.
Investigators revealed that a white van carrying seven people was hit while traveling inside the airport perimeter. The aircraft also struck a dark green car traveling on a nearby avenue outside the airport fence. Video recorded by an agency drone clearly shows both damaged vehicles.
The National Transportation Safety Board is the independent federal agency tasked with investigating civil aviation accidents in the United States. The Boeing 767 is a large twin-engine jetliner commonly used in global freight logistics by major parcel carriers.
Cockpit actions before the crash
Lead investigator Chih-Hoon Shin detailed the sequence of events during a second press conference held on Tuesday, September 8, 48 hours after the crash. He said the aircraft made an unconventional touchdown at 1:53 p.m. local time.
A standard landing requires an airplane to touch down on its two main rear landing gear wheels first before lowering its nose gear. On this flight, the nose gear and the right main gear touched the runway first at a speed of 292 km/h, 30 seconds before the flight data recorder stopped.
The pilots applied the brakes seven seconds after the initial touchdown. Four seconds after the initial brake application, the left main landing gear finally made contact with the ground.
Sensors showed that the brakes were then released while the aircraft was moving at a ground speed of 222 km/h. At the same time, the throttle levers were advanced to power settings matching a go-around maneuver.
Shin said this power increase lasted for four seconds. He noted that the crew may have intended to abort the landing and take off again before reconsidering their decision.
Unused deceleration equipment
A flight data recorder logs technical parameters including air speed, altitude, engine settings, and control surface movements. Investigators rely on these records to construct precise timelines during accident inquiries.
Following the four-second delay in the cockpit, the throttles were pulled back to idle and the brakes were re-engaged at 216 km/h. The brakes remained applied until the data recording ended.
Data from the recorder showed no indication that the speedbrakes or thrust reversers were deployed at any point during the landing roll. Shin stated that this key equipment allows an airplane to decelerate far more quickly than relying solely on wheel brakes.
Speedbrakes are hinged panels on the wing surfaces that disrupt airflow to reduce lift and speed, while thrust reversers redirect engine exhaust forward to assist in stopping heavy jets upon landing.
Investigation and crew interviews
More than 30 investigators have been assigned to determine the root cause of the fatal accident in South Florida.
The 55-year-old captain, who has recorded over 7,000 flight hours, and the 37-year-old co-pilot, who has nearly 2,700 flight hours, are scheduled for formal interviews with NTSB officials on Wednesday, September 9.
Miami International Airport is one of the busiest air cargo hubs in the Americas, handling thousands of freight flights each month. Amazon operates a dedicated air cargo service using twin-engine Boeing aircraft to distribute goods across North America.
