An Amazon cargo plane is seen after it crashed at Miami International Airport on Sunday in Miami, Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration said Prime Air Flight 7598 overran the runway while landing around 2 p.m. ET after departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Five people were killed when a cargo plane crashed at the Miami International Airport on Sunday. Local officials said the scene on the ground was chaotic, with multiple people taken to area hospitals.
Rosie Cordero-Stutz, the Miami-Dade County sheriff, said that the plane, operated by Amazon, overran the runway at approximately 1:58 p.m. “It came to rest at a field adjacent to the airport,” she said.
Video posted on social media shows the Prime Air plane, a Boeing 767, off the runway with its tail over the fence and thick black smoke rising from the aircraft.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said over 60 MDFR units had responded. During a news briefing, MDFR Chief Ray Jadallah said there was a fuel leak from the aircraft, which they are working to mitigate.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to NPR that Flight 7598 originally took off from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The FAA said it will investigate the crash.
The Miami-Dade Aviation Department said in a statement that the plane overran the diagonal runway and is disabled at the northwest end of the airport. “All runways and taxiways at MIA are currently closed as of 3:00 p.m.,” the department said.
The FAA on Sunday issued a ground stop on planes until 3 p.m. that was later extended until 5:30 p.m. Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy said the ground stop was ordered so that first responders could assess the scene and warned travelers of “significant delays and potential cancellations.”
At the time of the crash, the plane was being operated by the contract cargo carrier 21 Air, according to Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel.
“This is a fast-moving situation and we’re still gathering details. We’re working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened,” Nantel said in a post on social media. “Right now, our absolute priority is the safety, well-being, and care of everyone involved. We’re doing everything we can to support those affected.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
