Miami cargo plane approach speed warnings
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
NTSB transcripts show an Amazon cargo pilot repeatedly warned 'too fast' before a Miami runway overrun.
The case turns on why the crew pressed an unstable approach instead of going.
Background
An Amazon Prime Air cargo plane operated by 21 Air overran Runway 30 at Miami International Airport on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, hitting a passenger van and killing five people on the ground. The NTSB released cockpit voice recorder highlights on Wednesday, Sept. 9, showing one pilot repeatedly warned the other they were coming in too fast, while automated 'sink rate' and 'too low terrain' alerts sounded. Investigators say the other pilot did not consistently respond to the warnings, and the full transcript will not be public until later.
How it unfolded
- Sep 6, 2026An Amazon Prime Air 767 operated by 21 Air overran the end of Runway 30 at Miami International Airport during landing and crashed into a passenger van, killing five people and injuring five others.
- Sep 8, 2026The NTSB chairwoman issued a stark warning 24 hours after the crash; preliminary data pointed to an unstable approach with a tailwind, a faster-than-recommended descent rate, and landing well past the threshold.
- Sep 9, 2026The NTSB released highlights of the cockpit voice recorder, showing one pilot repeatedly warned 'too fast' for nearly two minutes and called for a go-around 15 seconds after touchdown.
- Sep 10, 2026News outlets reported the NTSB's findings; investigators had interviewed both pilots, but the full transcript will not be made public until later.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- The NTSB said the receiving pilot never gave a consistent verbal response to the speed warnings and that the full transcript will not be released until later.
- Expert
- Aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse said the crew had several cues their approach was unstable but continued instead of going around.
- Expert
- Former airline pilot Steve Arroyo said the details show a lack of teamwork in the cockpit and suggest the pilot at the controls may have been too focused on landing to acknowledge the speed warnings.
Still unverified
The NTSB did not identify which pilot made the warnings or which pilot received them. A report described preliminary data as looking like severe neglect by the pilots, and a tailwind the crew likely had not known about; these remain preliminary and unconfirmed. The full cockpit voice recorder transcript has not been released.