“Rescue! We’ve got one breathing!” an emergency responder screamed after an Amazon cargo plane skidded off the runway at Miami International Airport and obliterated a car, leaving a survivor trapped inside the mangled wreckage.
The Boeing 767 jet, operated by 21 Air for Amazon Prime Air, was barreling at 129 mph when it failed to stop on runway 30 and plowed into vehicles just before 2 p.m. Sunday. Five people were killed and five more injured, including three listed in critical condition, in the disaster that unfolded on a stormy afternoon in South Florida.
“He’s alive!” someone else shouts in the dramatic footage, before the first speaker yells again, “He’s alive, he’s breathing!” The video captures a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in a vest crouching down and peering into the severely damaged vehicle where the survivor was found. At one point, someone can be heard asking, “Is there anyone else in there?” An officer in a brown Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office uniform eventually approaches the vehicle as ambulances and other damaged vehicles sit in the background.
Debris from vehicles was strewn across a grassy area as the camera panned to the Prime Air plane, which had been flying in from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fire crews doused the aircraft with water as large skid marks cut through the grass, marking the path of destruction.
Truck driver Romiersky Rodriguez, who witnessed the chaos, said affiliate WTVJ that those near the crash site immediately feared a catastrophic explosion.
“Everything just went chaotic as soon as the plane fell, people all around, smoke everywhere, it’s a horrific experience,” Rodriguez said.
“I couldn’t get close enough because we were scared that the plane was going to blow up.”
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into why the aircraft failed to stop after landing on runway 30, which stretches more than 9,000 feet. One key area of focus is expected to be whether the plane touched down too late to stop safely, as the standard landing zone falls within the first 3,000 feet of runway. Investigators are also examining whether tailwinds from Sunday’s stormy weather contributed to the disaster.
The aircraft’s flight originated in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was operating under the Amazon Prime Air banner when it careened across a road used by businesses and warehouse workers before coming to its final rest. The force of the impact left vehicles crushed and scattered, with emergency crews scrambling through the wreckage to locate survivors amid the smoke and debris.
The NTSB investigation continues as officials work to determine the precise sequence of failures that prevented the Boeing 767 from stopping on the lengthy runway.