Five people were killed and five others seriously injured after a Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft operating for Amazon overran a runway at Miami International Airport on 6 September 2026, striking vehicles beyond the paved surface.
The aircraft, operated by 21 Air, was attempting to land on Runway 30 after departing Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The crash happened just before 14:00 local time, at around 1:53 p.m., during Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
The plane travelled approximately 1,300 feet beyond the paved end of the runway and was moving at approximately 130 mph when it left the runway area. Runway 30 is more than 9,000 feet long. Investigators have yet to establish why the aircraft failed to stop on the runway.
The aircraft struck a Ford Econoline van carrying seven people. The van belonged to Professional Ocean Service Corporation, a contract cleaning company for airlines. The plane then hit an SUV on Northwest 67th Ave. It also struck a fence line separating the area from where Tesla robotaxis were stationed.
Five people died in the crash. Five further people suffered serious injuries, including three who were in critical condition. The identities of those killed and injured have not been released in the information available.
The aircraft caught fire after the impact. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue sent more than 60 units and approximately 200 personnel to the scene. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded all flights at the airport as emergency crews responded.
Light thunderstorms and gusting winds were reported in Miami at the time of the crash. The role of the weather, if any, has yet to be determined. Investigators have also not established whether crew actions, a mechanical problem or other factors contributed to the overrun.
The aircraft was on its third flight of the day and had two crew members on board. Their condition was not included in the available information. The crash involved a cargo operation run by 21 Air, a North Carolina-based charter company that began operating Boeing 767-300 freighters for Amazon in 2024.
Jennifer Homendy, chairperson of the National Transportation Safety Board, is leading the agency's investigation. The board has recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which are expected to provide a record of the aircraft's operation and activity in the cockpit before the runway overrun.
The investigation will examine why the aircraft travelled beyond a runway of more than 9,000 feet, as well as the weather conditions, the aircraft's systems and the landing sequence. The National Transportation Safety Board has yet to identify a cause, while the effect of the crash on Amazon's operations through 21 Air remains unknown.
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