On Sunday, a devastating aviation accident at Miami International Airport has left at least five people dead and five more injured, three of whom are in critical condition, emergency authorities confirmed. The crash involved a Boeing 767-300 cargo freighter operating for Amazon Prime Air, which overran the runway during landing, collided with multiple ground vehicles and burst into flames.
The incident, designated as Prime Air Flight 7598, was operated by third-party cargo carrier 21 Air. The aircraft departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and approached Miami for landing just before 2 p.m. local time. According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane failed to stop before reaching the end of the airport’s diagonal runway, exited the designated airport perimeter, and struck moving vehicles on adjacent roadways before catching fire.
Footage from the crash site captured thick plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky above the airport. In response to the emergency, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue deployed more than 60 response units and roughly 200 emergency personnel to contain the incident. First responders also had to manage risks posed by leaking jet fuel that spread across the crash site.
Both the plane’s captain and first officer were initially trapped in the damaged cockpit, while additional victims were extracted from the wreckage of the collided vehicles. As of Sunday evening, authorities have not yet released details confirming whether the five fatalities were crew members on the aircraft or occupants of the ground vehicles.
Following the crash, Miami International Airport implemented an immediate full ground stop, closing all runways and taxiways temporarily to support emergency response operations. The shutdown caused substantial widespread delays for commercial passenger flights across the airport schedule. By later that evening, airport operators reopened two of the facility’s four runways to resume limited operations.
Amazon issued a statement confirming that the aircraft was operating under the Prime Air cargo network and was operated by 21 Air. The company said it is coordinating fully with investigating authorities to uncover the sequence of events that led to the accident.
At this stage, the root cause of the overrun and crash remains undetermined. The FAA is assisting with the probe, while the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the formal investigation into the incident. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy has traveled to Miami to oversee the on-site investigation work.