An Amazon Air cargo plane overran a runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, crashed through the airport's perimeter fence, struck multiple vehicles on a service road, and burst into flames, killing at least five people and injuring five others. The Boeing 767-300, operating flight 7598 for Amazon Air, came down at around 2 p.m. local time after arriving from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thick black smoke billowed into the sky above one of the United States' busiest aviation hubs, with the crash occurring over the Labor Day weekend, one of the peak travel periods of the year.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava confirmed the death toll at an evening news conference, saying that five people were injured alongside the fatalities, three of them critically. Miami Fire Chief Raied Jadallah said rescue crews arrived at the scene within seconds, finding the aircraft engulfed in flames. Several people were trapped inside or under ground vehicles and had to be extricated by firefighters, while the pilot and copilot were also trapped in the cockpit. More than 60 fire and rescue units were deployed to fight the blaze. Authorities said it was too early to determine whether those killed had been aboard the aircraft or in the vehicles it struck. Fire crews were still managing a fuel leak on the plane several hours after the incident.
The aircraft, a 32-year-old Boeing 767-300 originally built to carry passengers, flew for several commercial airlines before being converted to a cargo plane in 2015. It was operated by 21 Air, an independent cargo carrier based in North Carolina, flying on behalf of Amazon Air — Amazon's freight network, which covers roughly 250 flights daily across some 60 airports on four continents. Amazon does not hold its own air operator certificate and contracts external carriers for these services. Flight-tracking site FlightRadar24 recorded the aircraft travelling at 112 knots — about 129 mph — as it exited the usable runway. Weather records from the airfield show a thunderstorm was occurring at the time of landing, with gusting winds and cloud formations at 2,000 feet, though investigators have not established any connection between these conditions and the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a full ground stop at Miami International Airport from around 3 p.m., halting all runway and taxiway operations. Approximately 250 flights were delayed by late afternoon, and passengers reported long queues at airline counters as they tried to rebook travel plans. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the federal agency responsible for investigating civil aviation accidents in the United States, confirmed it is sending a team to Miami led by Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, with a news conference planned for Monday. Amazon said it was cooperating fully with the investigation. "We're heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives," the company said in a statement. "Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss."
The crash is one of the most serious incidents in Amazon's cargo network since February 2019, when a Boeing 767 operated by Atlas Air on behalf of the company crashed into a bay in Texas, killing its three crew members. That accident was attributed to pilot error. Investigators have not yet indicated what caused Sunday's runway overrun, and the NTSB is expected to lead a full inquiry in the days ahead.