A Prime Air Boeing 767 from Puerto Rico slammed into vehicles after leaving the pavement at 129 mph.
An Amazon cargo jet overran a Miami runway on Sunday afternoon, crossed a perimeter road, and smashed into vehicles before bursting into flames. Five people on the ground died. Five others were hurt, three of them critically.
It appears that the accident involving Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767-33A(ER)(BDSF) N1997A may have been caused by the flight crew failing to apply reverse thrust in time after landing, resulting in the aircraft overrunning Runway 30 at Miami International Airport.
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) September 7, 2026
The aircraft,… pic.twitter.com/YjouBopFM3
The two pilots survived after being trapped in the cockpit.
Prime Air Flight 7598, operated by 21 Air, was a 32-year-old Boeing 767-300 converted freighter registered N1997A. It arrived from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and touched down on Runway 30 just before 2 p.m. Tracking data showed it still moving at 112 knots when it left the usable runway. The 9,000-foot strip has no engineered arresting system at the end.
21 Air Flight 7598 overran the runway after landing at Miami International Airport around 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, Sept. 6. The Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft departed from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The FAA will investigate. Contact the…
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) September 6, 2026
Storms and a high-energy landing
Thunderstorms sat over the field. Winds came from 190 degrees at 17 knots, gusting to 26. That put a tailwind component on the approach to Runway 30. Pilots did not declare an emergency on the radio. The jet floated, failed to stop, punched through the safety area and fence, and came to rest near a parking lot that serves an Amazon warehouse. Its nose gear collapsed. Engines burned. More than 200 firefighters responded within seconds.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the community was “joined in prayers and grieving.” Fire Chief Raied Jadallah described a complex fire and victims trapped in crushed cars. Identities have not been released. Amazon called the deaths heartbreaking and said it is cooperating fully.
Airport disruption and the investigation
All four runways closed. A ground stop lasted several hours during the Labor Day rush. Two runways later reopened. FlightAware logged more than 160 cancellations and 250-plus delays. Some flights diverted to Orlando.
The NTSB sent a go-team led by Chair Jennifer Homendy. A first briefing is set for Monday. Investigators will examine touchdown point, braking, reversers, wet-runway performance, cargo loading, and weather. The FAA is also investigating. Cause remains unknown.
NTSB has launched a go team to investigate Sunday's runway excursion accident involving a B-767-300 cargo airplane at Miami International Airport. The airplane was operated as 21 Air Flight 7598 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami, Florida. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy will…
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) September 6, 2026
The wreckage sits just outside the airfield boundary, a reminder of how little margin exists when a heavy jet still carries that much speed at the far end of the pavement.
AI Disclosure: This article was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools and was reviewed and edited by the Glowls News editorial team before publication.