NewzMIAMI (AP) — Federal investigators examining why an Amazon cargo jet barreled off a runway at Miami International Airport and into vehicles, killing at least five people, are likely to focus on a crucial moment in the landing: whether the plane touched down too late to stop safely.Video of Sunday’s landing appears to show the Boeing 767 remaining airborne well down the runway before touching down. Aviation experts said investigators will seek to determine exactly where the plane landed, whether it was beyond the normal touchdown zone, and why the pilots did not abandon the landingInvestigators will also examine the plane’s speed and braking, weather and wind conditions, the aircraft’s mechanical condition and other factors that could have contributed to the deadly overrun. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team led by Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy to Miami, where she is expected to give the agency’s first briefing on the investigation Monday.The aircraft overran the runway around 2 p.m.
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 died, three were critically injured and two others were hospitalized with less severe injuries, officials said.The crash, which sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky, trapped the pilot and copilot in the cockpit and some occupants in cars, said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Ray Jadallah. The agency said crews also had to extricate a person who was trapped under a vehicle.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the pilots were among those killed.The typical landing zone for a plane is within the first 3,000 feet (914 meters) of a runway, experts said. If the cargo jet was beyond that area, it should have aborted the landing and gone around for another try, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said.Mary Schiavo, who is a pilot and former Inspector General of the Transportation Department, 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 wasn’t 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 …
Experts say federal investigators will likely consider whether an Amazon cargo jet that barreled off a runway and crashed into several vehicles in Miami touched down too late.
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