One of the pilots in Sunday’s deadly Amazon cargo jet crash at Miami International Airport borrowed a bystander’s phone moments after escaping the wreck and told his wife, “My career is over.”
The pilot, whose identity has not been publicly confirmed between the two crew members, was shaking and had minor injuries to his forehead and hand when airport worker Abraham Altamar encountered him near the burning debris. Altamar, who was working in a nearby building when the Boeing 767 went down, offered to call 911 but the pilot declined, saying emergency services had already been contacted.
Altamar then handed over his own phone so the pilot could reach his wife. “Just tell my mom that I was in the accident, but I’m already out of the plane, that I’m good,” the pilot said during the call, according to Altamar’s account.
Despite those reassurances to his family, the pilot’s distress was palpable. “He was shaking and a little injured in his forehead and his hand,” Altamar recounted. The airport worker added that the pilot told his wife, “My career is over,” in a moment of anguish even as he confirmed his physical survival.
Altamar described the experience of witnessing the crash as “surreal” and “scary.” It remains unclear whether he assisted captain Joseph Carroll, 55, or first officer Felipe Silva Molina, 37, both of whom survived with minor injuries while five others perished.
The five fatalities occurred across two vehicles that the jet struck after it failed to stop on the runway. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy addressed reporters at a press conference about the scope of destruction, particularly to a van carrying seven people that was torn apart in the collision.
“I would describe it in one word as devastating,” Homendy said. “Utter devastation.”
Federal investigators are examining whether the aircraft landed too far down the runway to stop safely. The crash occurred just before 2 p.m. Sunday when Prime Air flight 7598, operated by 21 Air, was completing its route from Puerto Rico to Miami.
Footage from the scene showed the massive jet tilted on its side as fires raged and thick black smoke billowed skyward, with horrified onlookers watching the aftermath unfold. The aircraft had careened off the runway and plowed into multiple vehicles before bursting into flames, according to officials.
Carroll and Silva Molina’s professional backgrounds were visible on their LinkedIn profiles, with Carroll serving as captain and Silva Molina as first officer for 21 Air. The cargo airline operates flights under contract with Amazon’s Prime Air service.
The NTSB investigation continues as authorities work to determine the precise sequence of events that led to the aircraft’s failure to stop and the catastrophic consequences on the ground.