By Gavin McAllister
An Amazon Air Boeing 767-300 crashed at Miami International Airport, overrunning the runway by approximately 1,300 feet, according to the publication Reuters. The crash was caused by a dangerous approach that led the aircraft to land late and far above safe landing speeds, eventually overrunning the runway. Some online viewers of the situation commented, asking questions similar to, “why didn’t the pilots initiate a go-around?”
From the cockpit, voice recordings contained more than 2 hours of audio, according to the NTSB summary. 1 minute and 42 seconds before the crash, one pilot warned that they were going too fast and made several comments on their excessive speed throughout the rest of the recording.
The NTSB mentioned that about 30 seconds before the crash, sounds of the aircraft touching down could be heard, but 15 seconds later, one of the pilots called for a go-around while brakes were still applied. The aircraft was already off the runway just 5 seconds after the go-around was called.
The surviving pilots were interviewed by the NTSB on September 7, and within the next few weeks, a preliminary report on this accident is expected. No information from the interview was shared by the NTSB.
According to 6abc, the Amazon cargo aircraft carried about 32,000 pounds of mostly contact lenses during the crash, and after overrunning the runway, the aircraft eventually hit a Ford Econoline van carrying seven people inside, leading to 5 deaths and 5 injuries. Reuters mentioned that all 5 of the people killed were on the ground during the crash.
All flights resumed later in the afternoon on the same day of the crash.
One way the crash could have been avoided is by constantly adjusting throttle to maintain a reduced airspeed. One of the pilots was obviously aware of their excessive speed, but since no information from the interview was shared, and a lack of black box recording data was released, it may be unknown what was said or done by the other pilot.
