5 Dead After Amazon Plane Overshoots Miami Runway

An Amazon cargo plane barreled off a runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday, killing at least five people as it struck vehicles and burst into flames, authorities said. The aircraft overran the runway around 2pm after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, per the AP. Five people were killed, three critically injured, and two others hospitalized with less severe injuries, said Miami-Dade County officials. It was too soon to determine whether the people who died were on board the plane or in the vehicles the plane hit.

The crash, which sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky, trapped the pilot and copilot in the cockpit and some occupants in cars, said Miami-Dade Rescue Fire Chief Ray Jadallah. The agency said another person was trapped under a vehicle. Fire crews were still dealing with a fuel leak on the plane several hours after the crash, Jadallah said. The flight had been operated by 21 Air, a cargo carrier based in North Carolina. The 32-year-old Boeing 767 was originally built to carry passengers and flew for several airlines for more than two decades before being converted to a cargo plane in 2015, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.