Amazon cargo jet overran a Miami runway and hit vehicles, killing 5 people on the ground

The crash. A Boeing 767-300 freighter painted in Amazon Prime Air colors, flown by contract carrier 21 Air as Flight 7598 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, ran off a runway while landing at Miami International Airport around 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6. It struck multiple vehicles beyond the runway and caught fire. Five people were killed, all of them on the ground. Five more were hurt, including the only two people aboard the plane. The response. More than 60 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded. Crews cut the two pilots out of the cockpit and used technical rescue equipment to free people trapped in the struck vehicles. Fire officials said the fire started in an engine compartment and was fought with foam. Hours in, they were still containing a fuel leak: "We do still have an active fuel leak that's occurring off of the aircraft that is being mitigated." The airport. All four runways and every taxiway closed at 3 p.m. under a full ground stop. One runway reopened around 4:15 p.m. and a second about half an hour later, ending roughly 75 minutes of total closure. By 5:05 p.m., FlightAware counted 278 delays and 88 cancellations at the airport. What next. The NTSB sent a Go Team and planned its first on-scene briefing for Monday, Sept. 7. Neither it nor the FAA has named a cause. (TS: The NTSB's preliminary report typically lands about 30 days out, and it usually states facts, not cause.)

What investigators know about the aircraft so far:

• Tail number N1997A: delivered new in 1994, converted from passenger jet to freighter in 2015
• Operators before 21 Air took it in January 2025: six, including Vietnam Airlines, Air Europa and Kenya Airways
• Winds at Miami at the time: 17 knots gusting to 26, with a thunderstorm over the field