Amazon Plane Miami Runway Accident: Pilot Speed Warning Issued

Cockpit Warnings and Silence Before the Miami Runway Overrun

News, one of the pilots repeatedly cautioned the other about excessive speed during the approach and after touchdown. However, the fellow pilot never gave “a consistent verbal response” to the warnings.

Flight data recorder information released by investigators shows the 32-year-old Boeing 767 was highly unsteady as it descended amid strong winds. The aircraft touched down awkwardly, and the crew briefly disengaged the brakes and shoved the throttles up as if attempting a go-around before abandoning that effort just four seconds later, according to the NTSB summary.

Safety Experts Question Flight Deck Coordination

Aviation experts analyzing the preliminary data have raised questions regarding cockpit resource management and crew coordination during the high-stress landing.

Former Federal Aviation Administration official Mike O’Donnell noted that the crew had ample opportunity to alter their approach. “You have plenty of time to slow down, plenty of time to say, let’s just do a go-around at two minutes out,” O’Donnell said, pointing out that pilots could have extended spoilers, cut throttles, or lowered the landing gear sooner.

Steve Arroyo, a former airline pilot and safety expert, told investigators that the newly released details point to a clear lack of teamwork. “Where’s the coordination? Where’s the leadership here in terms of managing the flight deck? And following the trained guidelines set forth in the company’s flight manual?” Arroyo questioned.

Meanwhile, former Department of Transportation Inspector General Mary Schiavo told reporters she wonders whether the pilot at the controls was a senior captain while a less experienced first officer issued the unheeded speed warnings, noting that “the junior pilot was not aggressive in challenging.”

Fatal Impact on Ground Workers and Ongoing Investigation

When the Boeing 767 finally touched down, it was already well down the runway. Flightradar24 estimated based on NTSB data that the aircraft’s right and nose landing gear hit the tarmac nearly halfway down the 9,360-foot runway, leaving significantly less stopping distance. Strong local winds from incoming storms may have created a tailwind that propelled the jet forward.

The plane barreled roughly 396 meters (about 1,300 feet) past the end of the pavement, smashing into a 2012 Ford van carrying workers for Professional Ocean Service Corp., a contract airline cleaning company, according to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and reports from Daily Mail and NBC News. The jet then struck a compact SUV on a public road and caught fire.

All five people killed in the crash were inside the van. They have been identified by authorities as Rolando Aleman, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47. Five other individuals sustained injuries in the collision. According to Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, two injured men—Eugenio Corredor, 79, and Ridoel Averhoff Diaz, 32—remained hospitalized in critical condition, while Roosevelt Sebastian Perdomo Torres, 36, was listed in stable condition.

The two pilots on board, identified by the Miami Herald as Joseph Carroll, 55, and Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37, survived the crash and were interviewed by investigators after being treated and released from the hospital. A preliminary Federal Aviation Administration report also noted that Miami International Airport is not equipped with an Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS)—crushable material beds designed to stop overshooting aircraft—which is installed at more than 120 other U.S. airports.

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