An Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 cargo jet overran a runway at Miami International Airport and came to rest on an adjacent roadway, sending thick black smoke into the sky and prompting an emergency response on Sunday.
The aircraft, operating as flight 5Y-3601, had arrived from San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it failed to stop on runway 30 and skidded onto Northwest 36th Street, a busy road that runs alongside the airport’s southern perimeter. Video obtained by NBC 6 showed the massive cargo plane sitting askew across the pavement with flames burning somewhere along its fuselage, while cars and semitrucks pulled over around the scene.
“Oh my God!” people were heard saying in the background as the wreck burned, according to the footage. The clip, which circulated widely on social media, captured the dramatic aftermath as dark smoke billowed upward from the damaged aircraft.
Despite the alarming scene, the plane appeared to be largely intact where it lay on the road. The fuselage did not appear to have broken apart, and the main structure of the jet remained recognizable even as emergency crews responded to the flames and smoke.
Injuries were reported in the incident, though the exact number and severity were not immediately clear. The aircraft was not carrying passengers, operating instead as a cargo flight for Amazon’s Prime Air service, which contracts with carriers to move packages across its logistics network.
The jet was identified as a Boeing 767, a workhorse aircraft commonly converted from passenger to freighter configuration for cargo operations. Amazon has built out a substantial air cargo operation in recent years, relying on contracted carriers to shuttle goods between its distribution hubs.
What caused the plane to leave the runway remained unclear in the immediate aftermath. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board typically lead probes into commercial aviation incidents, though no official announcement of an investigation had been made public by Sunday evening.
Social media posts about the crash spread rapidly, with one widely shared tweet noting the flight’s origin in San Juan and expressing relief that no passengers were aboard. The post urged continued concern for those injured in the crash.
The roadway where the plane came to rest is a major east-west thoroughfare through the Miami area, and the incident snarled traffic as emergency vehicles converged on the scene. Drivers who had been traveling along the road were seen stopped near the wreckage, some apparently having narrowly avoided the path of the runaway aircraft.
It remained unclear how many crew members were aboard the cargo flight or what their condition was following the crash. Cargo flights typically operate with a flight crew of two pilots, though some configurations may include additional crew.
The incident marked a rare but serious safety event for Amazon’s growing air cargo division, which has expanded rapidly to support the company’s delivery operations. The e-commerce giant does not operate aircraft directly but contracts with carriers including Atlas Air and others to fly packages on its behalf.
This is a developing story, and additional details about the cause of the runway overrun and the condition of those involved were expected to emerge as officials continued their response and preliminary investigation.