FAA investigating cause of fatal crash in Miami

US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigators yesterday were detailing their plans for determining what caused an Amazon.com Inc cargo jet to barrel off a runway at Miami International Airport, killing at least five people and injuring five others as it struck vehicles and was engulfed in flames.

The aircraft overran the runway at about 2pm on Sunday after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and plowed across a road used by warehouse workers and other businesses that surround the airport. Five people were killed, three critically injured and two others hospitalized with less severe injuries, officials said.

It was not immediately clear if the pilots survived or those killed were all in vehicles when the plane struck.

The crash, which sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky, trapped the pilot and copilot in the cockpit and some occupants in cars, Miami-Dade Rescue Fire Chief Ray Jadallah said.

The agency said crews also had to extricate a person who was trapped under a vehicle.

The National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy was to hold a news conference yesterday, the agency said.

Among the factors investigators are likely to consider is whether the plane flew too far before touching down, experts said.

Typically, the landing zone is within the first 3,000 feet (914m) of a runway.

Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said if it was beyond that area, the plane should have aborted the landing and gone around for another attempt.

Mary Schiavo, who is a pilot and former inspector general of the US Department of Transportation, said video posted online shows the Amazon plane floating above the runway for an extended period without flaring the nose upward to force the main landing gear onto the ground.

It was not raining at the time, but dark storm clouds loomed and strong winds were reported. Schiavo said that if the plane had a tail wind, that could have contributed to it floating further down the runway.

“A tail wind would certainly add to your troubles if you’ve already given up a good chunk of the runway by not touching down and landing right away,” Schiavo said.

The Miami airport is not equipped with arresting systems that the FAA says have been installed at more than 120 airports nationwide to safely stop planes that do go past the end of a runway. Those beds of lightweight, crushable material at the end of a runway have been credited by the FAA with helping save at least 497 lives aboard planes that overran runways.

The crash halted flights at the busy travel hub for much of the afternoon. About 200 emergency personnel responded, finding the plane with heavy flames and smoke from a complex engine compartment fire, the department said. Firefighters used foam from specialized airport firefighting units to extinguish the fire, and crews were still dealing with a fuel leak on the plane hours later.

The Prime Air plane came to rest beside a roadway near two semitrucks, images showed. The aircraft appeared to be resting on its belly and was largely intact despite the fire.

The flight had been operated by 21 Air, a cargo carrier based in North Carolina. The 32-year-old Boeing 767 was originally built to carry passengers and flew for several airlines for more than two decades before being converted to a cargo plane in 2015, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.

Schiavo said the NTSB will also closely examine the maintenance history of this plane — particularly since it has a history of foreign ownership in the past, including by a Russian company.

More than 160 flights were canceled and nearly 325 delayed by late Sunday, according to FlightAware, a Web site that tracks flight disruptions. Officials from Orlando International Airport, more than 320km north of Miami, said some flights were diverted there.

Amazon said in a statement that it would cooperate with any investigation.

“We’re heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today’s incident at Miami International Airport,” the company said. “Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss.”

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