NTSB Flight Data Reveals Cockpit Speed Alerts Preceded Deadly Amazon Cargo Plane Crash in Miami

Newly disclosed investigative findings from federal authorities indicate that flight crew members aboard an Amazon cargo aircraft were alerted to excessive airspeed moments before the plane overshot a runway at Miami International Airport, collided with ground vehicles, and erupted into flames. The incident, which unfolded on a Sunday, resulted in multiple casualties and extensive damage beyond the airport boundary.

According to a preliminary investigative update published by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), one pilot on the flight deck repeatedly cautioned the other regarding the plane's dangerous velocity during the landing approach. The federal agency is currently directing the official inquiry into the fatal disaster, which claimed the lives of five individuals on the ground and left five others injured.

The NTSB’s review of the recovered cockpit voice and flight data systems revealed that these verbal warnings concerning the aircraft’s high rate of speed persisted across the final phase of the recording. Despite the repeated safety advisories voiced inside the cockpit, investigators observed that there was not a consistent verbal response returned by the flying colleague, even as automated altitude alerts began activating within the cabin.

Technical readouts released by federal investigators established that the wide-body cargo jet, identified as a Boeing 767-300 operating as Amazon Prime Air Flight 7598, crossed the runway threshold at a landing speed of approximately 158 knots, equivalent to 292 kilometers per hour. Aviation specialists reviewing the parameters noted that such a velocity sits at the extreme high end of standard operational landing speeds for this category of commercial aircraft.

In addition to the pilot-to-pilot dialogue, the onboard recording systems captured multiple automated safety warnings sounding during the final minutes of the flight. Among these electronic alerts was a repetitive "sink rate sink rate" callout, an automated cockpit warning designed to immediately alert the flight crew that the aircraft is descending toward the ground at an excessively rapid rate.

The data further documented a secondary automated alarm known as a "too low terrain" callout. This specific electronic system triggers when an approaching airplane is detected flying too close to the surface of the earth without being configured properly with the necessary gear or wing settings required for a safe and controlled landing.

Assessing the newly released information, aviation attorney Pablo Rojas noted in an interview with CBS News that interpreting the lack of verbal interaction remains challenging without access to the raw voice recordings. Nevertheless, Rojas emphasized that the sequence of persistent speed cautions coupled with a lack of steady verbal acknowledgment points to a critically compromised landing effort, characterizing the arrival as what appeared to be a doomed approach.

The NTSB update also provided critical technical data regarding the mechanical configuration of the aircraft during its descent, specifically tracking the timing of flap deployment along the trailing edges of the wings. Wing flaps serve as essential aerodynamic surfaces that generate drag to decelerate the plane while providing the necessary lift to maintain control during a gentle, stabilized approach to the tarmac.

According to the investigative data, the deployment of these wing flaps occurred significantly late in the aircraft's approach sequence. Rojas explained that this abnormal delay in deploying the flaps represents another vital area of concern for safety investigators, suggesting that the crew may have engaged the mechanisms belatedly in a reactive attempt to slow the rapidly moving jetliner once its high speed became untenable.

The inability to arrest the aircraft's momentum caused the Boeing 767-300 to travel beyond the usable length of the landing strip at high velocity. As the heavy cargo plane careened past the end of the paved runway, it struck pieces of ground equipment positioned within the airfield before smashing directly into an airport service vehicle, identified as a white Ford van.

The jet's destructive path continued unchecked through the airport's outer perimeter security fence. After bursting through the boundary barrier, the aircraft struck a civilian passenger car, a Toyota Corolla, before finally grinding to a halt roughly 1,300 feet, or 394 meters, past the terminus of the runway, where the wreckage became engulfed in flames.

Local emergency services and Miami authorities confirmed that all five individuals who lost their lives in the disaster were airport contract workers who were sitting inside the white Ford van when it was struck. The victims, who operated as a dedicated aircraft-cleaning crew, were identified on Tuesday as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.

Five other individuals sustained various injuries during the multi-vehicle collision and ensuing fire, prompting rapid response efforts from regional emergency crews and airport rescue teams who secured the crash zone adjacent to the airfield.

Federal safety investigators with the NTSB are continuing their technical examination of the flight data recorders, structural components, and air traffic environmental factors to assemble a comprehensive timeline of the events leading up to the fatal overrun of Amazon Prime Air Flight 7598.