On a Sunday in Miami, Florida, a fatal crash involving an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane has yielded new critical details from recently released flight data, shedding light on the chaotic final moments before the aircraft overshot a runway and killed five people. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is leading the ongoing investigation into the incident that also left five others injured, published an update containing the aircraft’s flight data and a summary of cockpit communications between the two pilots.
According to the NTSB’s findings, one pilot repeatedly alerted the other that the Boeing 767-300 was traveling at excessive speed as it approached the runway for landing. Despite multiple warnings and the activation of an altitude alarm, investigators noted the second pilot did not provide consistent verbal responses to the cautions. Recorded data shows the jet touched down at 158 knots, equal to 292 kilometers per hour, a landing speed aviation experts have characterized as being at the high end of safe operating ranges.
In the final minutes of the flight, two automated safety alarms triggered in the cockpit: first, a repeated “sink rate, sink rate” callout that warns pilots of an unsafe rate of descent, followed by a “too low terrain” alert, which notifies the crew that the aircraft is flying dangerously close to the ground without proper landing configuration. The NTSB’s release also included data on wing flap deployment, a key system that helps reduce aircraft speed and enable a gentle, controlled landing.
Pablo Rojas, an aviation attorney speaking to CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, noted that without access to the full unedited cockpit recording, it is impossible to draw definitive conclusions about what led to the inconsistent responses between the pilots. Even so, Rojas said the released details confirm the landing attempt was essentially doomed from an early stage. He added that the flap deployment data raises additional questions: the flaps were extended much later in the approach sequence than standard procedure, a delay Rojas suggested may have been a reaction to the crew already aware the plane was moving far too fast for a safe landing.
After overshooting the end of the runway, the aircraft, operating as Amazon Prime Air Flight 7598, crashed through ground support equipment on the airfield before striking a white Ford van carrying a five-person plane-cleaning crew. The jet continued off airport property, crashing through a perimeter fence and colliding with a Toyota Corolla before coming to a stop roughly 394 meters, or 1,300 feet, beyond the runway threshold. All five people in the van were killed in the crash and subsequent fire; Miami authorities released the victims’ identities earlier this week, naming them as 55-year-old Rolando Aleman Leon, 53-year-old Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 75-year-old Julio C Pineda, 53-year-old Carlos Acosta Fajardo, and 47-year-old Javierkys Reyes Quevedo. The NTSB’s investigation remains ongoing as investigators work to piece together the full sequence of events that led to the crash.