An Amazon Prime Air cargo plane overran a diagonal runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, killing at least five people. The aircraft struck multiple vehicles and burst into flames, closing all runways at the major U.S. transport hub.
Flight 7598, arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, overshot the runway around 2 p.m. local time. The aircraft came to rest on its belly beside a roadway near two semi-trucks, largely intact despite the fire. Thick black smoke billowed from the north-west end of the airport.
Miami-Dade County officials confirmed five deaths, three critical injuries, and two additional injuries requiring hospitalization. Officials said it was too early to determine whether the fatalities were plane occupants or people in the vehicles struck on the ground.
Miami-Dade Rescue Fire Chief Ray Jadallah said emergency crews extracted two individuals trapped in vehicles hit by the plane. The pilot and co-pilot were trapped inside the aircraft; responders also freed a person pinned under a vehicle.
More than 200 emergency personnel responded, battling heavy flames and smoke from a complex engine compartment fire. Firefighters deployed foam from specialized airport units to extinguish the blaze. Crews continued managing a fuel leak from the plane hours after the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a full ground stop at Miami International Airport. All runways and taxiways remained closed as of 3 p.m. Sunday, halting afternoon flights.
FlightAware reported over 160 flights canceled and nearly 325 delayed by late Sunday. Orlando International Airport, located more than 320 kilometers north, diverted some flights originally destined for Miami.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the FAA was dispatching investigators to the site. The cause remains undetermined. The National Weather Service recorded thunderstorms and wind gusts reaching 48 kilometers per hour in the area at the time.
For Amazon, the crash constrained Prime Air operations at a critical hub during the Labor Day holiday weekend, a period of peak travel and cargo movement. The runway closure created a bottleneck for air freight traffic at one of the nation's busiest cargo airports.
