NTSB: Doomed Amazon Cargo Jet Tried a Late Go-Around Before Runway Crash That Killed 5 in Miami
Flight data show the 21 Air crew briefly attempted to abort their landing and never deployed thrust reversers before the Boeing 767 overran the runway and slammed into a van of airport workers — as both pilots were called in for formal NTSB interviews Wednesday.

Newly released flight data show the crew of an Amazon-branded cargo jet that plowed into a crew van at Miami International Airport briefly tried to abort their landing before the Boeing 767 careened nearly 400 feet past the runway, federal investigators said Tuesday, as both pilots sat down for formal interviews Wednesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board said data pulled from the wreckage of 21 Air Flight 7598 show the throttles spiked to go-around thrust in the final seconds before touchdown Sunday, then brakes were reapplied until the recording cut out. Crucially, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said investigators found no indication that thrust reversers or speed brakes were ever deployed as the plane rolled off the pavement.
Five people were killed and five others injured when the 32-year-old freighter, registered N1997A and operated for Amazon Air by contractor 21 Air, overran the runway by roughly 1,300 feet, tore through the airport's perimeter fence and struck a van and an SUV on a city street beyond it. All five who died were riding in a van owned by Professional Ocean Service Corp, a contractor that shuttles crews who clean aircraft between gates. "Our employees are far more than the people who work beside us each day, they are family, and they are deeply loved," the company said in a statement.
The jet had just flown in from San Juan, Puerto Rico, carrying roughly 32,000 pounds of cargo — mostly contact lenses, no hazardous materials — as storms gathered over South Florida. Investigators are examining whether a tailwind pushed the aircraft well past its intended touchdown point, and why air traffic controllers had not switched the landing approach to put the plane into a headwind instead.
A hesitation that may have proved fatal
Captain Joseph Carroll, 55, who has logged more than 7,100 flight hours, and First Officer Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37, with roughly 2,650 hours, were both hospitalized after the crash and later released. Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said two of the five people hurt on the ground remain in critical condition and a third in stable condition.
Former FAA official Mike O'Donnell, reviewing the data made public so far, said the nose-first, right-gear-first touchdown pointed to an unstable approach — and a crew that waited too long to bail out of it.
"A GO-AROUND PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED SOONER THAN THAT. AND IT SEEMS LIKE THEY HESITATED." — FORMER FAA OFFICIAL MIKE O'DONNELL
Aviation attorney Mary Schiavo, a former Transportation Department inspector general, told reporters the flight data "almost seems like there was a disagreement between the pilots on what to do" in the aircraft's final seconds. Miami International Airport, like many older US runways, is not equipped with an Engineered Material Arresting System — a crushable-concrete bed designed to slow a plane that overshoots — a gap aviation safety advocates are likely to press on as the probe continues.
Amazon said in a statement it is cooperating fully with the investigation and that its "deepest sympathies" are with the victims' families. 21 Air, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based cargo carrier that flies charters for Amazon Air, has not issued its own public statement beyond confirming the crew's identities to investigators.
Homendy said the cockpit voice recorder captured more than two hours of usable audio, but the NTSB is withholding a full readout until after Wednesday's pilot interviews are complete. CNN reported the recorder and flight data unit were both recovered largely intact from the burned-out fuselage, which investigators say could still yield a fuller second-by-second account of the crew's decisions.
Miami International reopened Runway 8R for eastbound departures earlier this week, but the runway where the jet came to rest remains closed, with the wreckage still partly on airport grounds. Homendy said crews are working to hand back more of the airfield as evidence — including drone imagery and tire marks — is documented, though she cautioned the full investigation is expected to run for roughly a year before a final cause is issued.