Federal investigators probe Amazon cargo jet's fiery runway crash that killed 5 in Miami

The US National Transportation Safety Board will host a press conference at 4pm on Monday to provide fresh updates regarding Sunday's tragic Amazon Prime Air cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport, the agency announced via X. The accident occurred just before 2pm EDT when the aircraft veered off the diagonal runway, colliding with several stationary vehicles, resulting in five fatalities and five additional injuries, including three in critical condition, officials revealed during a news briefing on Sunday.

At least two individuals were trapped within struck vehicles, while the pilot and co-pilot were confined inside the wreckage, according to Miami-Dade Fire Chief Ray Jadallah. Over 60 rescue teams and roughly 200 personnel arrived at the scene, as reported by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. As of late Sunday, emergency responders continued to address a fuel leak emanating from the aircraft, as stated by Jadallah.

The NTSB disclosed on X that they had "deployed a go team" to examine the incident. Though the airport immediately suspended all flights post-collision, services resumed by Sunday evening. However, the mishap had lasting repercussions for travelers arriving in Miami. By noon EDT on Monday, arrivals at the airport faced an average delay of over five hours, with 232 flights cancelled within the preceding 24 hours, as per flight-tracking platform FlightAware.

The aircraft, a 32-year-old Boeing 767-300 freighter, previously functioned as a passenger jet for various airlines between 1994 and 2015, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24. Images from Reuters post-collision depicted the jet with its nose touching the ground and tail lifted upward, with the right side displaying apparent burn marks.

Flightradar24 indicated the plane was traveling at 112 knots (129mph) when it departed the usable runway.