Amazon Pilot Warned Plane Was Coming In Too Fast: NTSB

The pilot of an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane that crashed at Miami International Airport on Sunday was repeatedly warned by his counterpart that he was going too fast as he came in to land, investigators said.

The plane, operated by Miami-based 21 Air, overran the runway by about 1,300 feet, crashed into a workers’ van and an SUV, killing five people and injuring another five. Both pilots survived.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Wednesday that one of the pilots kept commenting on the plane’s speed while automated warnings sounded in the cockpit.

“There was not a consistent verbal response to the comments about speed,” according to the cockpit voice recording, the NTSB said in a Sept.9 summary.

Before ⁠the plane touched down, “sink rate sink rate” rang out twice in the cockpit as the aircraft at one point descended 400 feet in ​four seconds, based on the information released by the NTSB. That was followed by five warnings of “too low terrain.”

The NTSB said on Tuesday that throttles were increased to ​values consistent with go-around thrust after the plane touched down. That may indicate a late attempt to abort the landing and ​get back in the air.

At this point, the plane was nearing the end of the runway but still traveling at 120 knots (138 mph), according to data ​from Flightradar24 based on initial NTSB disclosures. Four seconds later, the throttles were reduced to idle power, and there were then sounds similar to the plane ‌departing the ⁠runway’s paved surface, the NTSB said.

The board said on Tuesday that the recorded data showed no indication that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed to help slow the plane.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the 55-year-old pilot, who has not been named, received his type rating for the 767 in May and has 7,145 hours of flight time. The first officer, 37, received his 767 type rating in April 2025 and has 2,655 flying hours. It was not confirmed which of the two men was at the plane’s controls when it crashed.

5 Cleaners Killed

All five people who died were in a van carrying workers from a plane cleaning company.

Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz on Tuesday identified the deceased men as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55, Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53, Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53, Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47, and Julio C. Pineda, 75.

She said two of those injured remain in critical condition, while a third is in stable condition.

Homendy was asked by a reporter on Tuesday about the risks airport workers face.

“This is certainly very tragic,” Homendy said. “You would not think, riding in a van to clean an airplane, that this would happen. No one would think that, it’s the unthinkable, and I can only imagine what these families are going through.”

The 32-year-old Amazon cargo plane was on its third flight of the day, having flown in from San Juan, Puerto Rico, when the crash occurred at 1:53 p.m.

The cargo mainly consisted of contact lenses, Homendy said.

Amazon issued a statement on Wednesday, saying it remained fully committed to supporting NTSB’s work.

“The loss of life caused by this week’s tragedy weighs heavily on all of us at Amazon,” company spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in the statement. “Our hearts continue to be with the families and loved ones of those who were killed, and with the entire Miami-Dade community enduring an unimaginable time.”

It is the second major cargo plane to crash in the United States in the past year. In October, a UPS plane crashed at Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, killing the crew of three and 11 people on the ground.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.