Five people died and five others were injured when an Amazon cargo plane overran a runway at Miami International Airport on Sept. 6, 2026, after cockpit recordings revealed a pilot repeatedly warned about excessive speed.
The federal investigation into the fatal runway overrun involving an Amazon cargo jet has turned its focus toward crew communication and flight deck management. Cockpit voice recorder data released by federal safety officials indicates that one pilot spent nearly two minutes repeatedly warning their counterpart about excessive speed as the aircraft approached for landing.
Cockpit Voice Recorders Trace Final Minutes of Flight 7598
The Boeing 767-300, operating as Amazon Air Flight 7598 after arriving from Puerto Rico, carried approximately 32,000 pounds of mostly contact lenses when it touched down at Miami International Airport shortly before 2 p.m. on a Sunday. According to the National Transportation Safety Board summary, one pilot warned they were going too fast about 1 minute and 42 seconds before the crash, continuing those observations throughout the remainder of the recording.
Flight data recorder information shows the aircraft was unsteady during its descent amid strong winds. Investigators noted that the other pilot gave no a consistent verbal response
to the speed cautions.
About 30 seconds before the crash, sounds matching aircraft touchdown registered on the equipment. Roughly 15 seconds later, brakes were released at a ground speed of 120 knots while throttles increased to values consistent with go-around thrust, lead investigator Chihoon Shin explained during a briefing. Just five seconds after a late call to abort the landing, the aircraft careened past the end of the pavement.
Impact and Casualties Across the Airport Perimeter
The 32-year-old cargo jet barreled roughly 1,300 feet (396 meters) past the end of the runway. It struck navigation equipment before colliding with a white 2012 Ford E-150 Econoline van owned by an aircraft-cleaning company. The van held seven workers inside.
The plane then crashed through a perimeter fence, struck a Toyota Corolla Cross LE driving outside airport grounds, and tore through another barrier before stopping near parked Tesla robotaxis and catching fire. All five fatalities occurred inside the cleaning van. The Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office identified those killed as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Narajo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
Five other people sustained injuries, including two who remained in critical condition days after the incident. Both flight crew members survived. The pilots were identified as Joseph Carroll, 55, and Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37, listed via LinkedIn profiles and Federal Aviation Administration records as a captain and first officer for carrier 21 Air.
Aviation Experts Question Crew Coordination
Former aviation regulators and safety specialists reviewing the public data point to missed opportunities to alter the flight’s trajectory long before touchdown.
O’Donnell observed that the crew could have extended spoilers, cut throttles, lowered landing gear, or simply executed a go-around minutes earlier. Aviation expert Pablo Rojas told local reporters that the late sequence of events reflected dangerous indecision. First they were trying to land, slow the plane down, bring it to a halt, then they hesitated and maybe tried to do a go-around, meaning speed up again, then they made another change in their decision which was to try to land again,
Rojas said.
Next Steps in the Federal Inquiry
Federal investigators have recovered the aircraft’s two black boxes and shipped them to Washington, D.C., for analysis. The NTSB conducted interviews with both surviving pilots following the release of the cockpit audio highlights. Regulators are examining the history of the 32-year-old Boeing jet—built originally for passenger service before conversion to cargo operations in 2015—alongside maintenance logs, operator 21 Air’s procedures, and airport infrastructure.
A preliminary report from the NTSB is expected in the coming weeks as the investigation into the runway overrun continues.
