A cargo plane bearing the Amazon Prime Air livery overran a runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, colliding with multiple vehicles and catching fire in a crash that shuttered one of the United States' busiest airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the aircraft — flight 7598 operated by Miami-based 21 Air, a Boeing 767-300 — overran the runway after landing at about 2 p.m. local time, having flown from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Airport officials confirmed that Prime Air flight 7598 was disabled at the northwest end of the airport.
After crossing Northwest 67th Avenue, the plane struck multiple vehicles, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, and then caught fire by the time crews arrived. The agency said in a social media post that units arrived to find "an airplane that had caught fire as a result of this crash, with heavy flames and smoke showing," and that firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze and assess patients. More than 60 fire rescue units were at the scene.
Emergency radio traffic captured a chaotic scene, with one firefighter telling colleagues: "The plane is on fire. The plane is on fire. Put your game faces on guys." Firefighters struggled to approach the aircraft because even after the crash, the plane's left engine was still running. According to their radio transmissions, the pilots had said they could not shut it down because they needed to "energize" the aircraft, so the teams had to flood the engine with water from hoses to disable it.
While fire crews managed the burning aircraft, firefighters and paramedics were focused on the people inside several vehicles that had been struck. Radio traffic indicates that responders were playing seriously injured people from those vehicles. Authorities have not yet released an official count or severity of injuries, but reports from the scene paint a heavy toll.
The overrun forced the closure of every runway and taxiway at the airport and triggered a ground stop, which puts all flights on hold. An airport spokesperson told the FAA it expects flights to be resumed only in a low rate of arrivals and departures, with significant delays and possible cancellations expected once the airport resumes fuller operations. The FAA stated travelers should check with their airlines before heading to the airport.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on social media of significant delays and possible cancellations. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said Monday that crews were still working toward extinguishing the fire and assessing patients, and the FAA said it will investigate the event.
So far, Amazon and 21 Air did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Federal officials have not provided any information regarding the crew or the vehicle situation.
The Boeing 767-300 involved was more than three decades old, having first flown in 1994. According to data compiled by Planespotters, the craft changed hands over the decades, including operations for Air Europa, Kenya Airways and Atlas Air, and was converted into a cargo aircraft in 2016. The jet came to rest beside a roadway near two parked semi trucks, standing upright but largely intact despite the fire.
21 Air is a Miami-based cargo airline that began operating Boeing 767-300 freighters on behalf of Amazon in 2024. The aircraft involved was a freighter for Amazon Prime Air air.