Miami International Airport did not have a critical runway safety system that federal aviation officials say might have helped avert the Amazon cargo plane crash that left five people dead.
The Boeing 767, operated by North Carolina-based 21 Air, sped off a runway at the South Florida airport on Sunday, slammed into several vehicles and then burst into flames.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that Miami International is not equipped with the Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS), a runway overrun protection feature now in place at more than 120 airports across the country.
The technology uses beds of lightweight, crushable material installed at the end of a runway, designed to slow and stop aircraft that travel beyond the pavement, according to the FAA.
Federal aviation officials have urged airports for years to adopt the system, which the FAA says has helped save at least 497 lives.
Despite this, EMAS is not a mandatory requirement and airports are permitted to use other FAA-approved methods to reduce the risk of planes running off runways.
The cargo plane overran the runway around 2pm Sunday after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and plowed across a road used by warehouse workers and other businesses that surround the airport.
Five people died, three were critically injured and two others were hospitalized with less severe injuries, officials said.
Firefighters were forced to use a ladder to climb into the cockpit of an Amazon cargo plane that crashed into a crowded street on Sunday
It has since been revealed that runways at Miami International Airport are not equipped with an Engineered Materials Arresting System – crushable concrete designed to bring planes that overshoot the tarmac safely to a stop. Above, the system in use at Boca Raton Airport last year
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 Fire Rescue.
Crews also had to extricate a person who was trapped under a vehicle. It wasn’t immediately clear if the pilots were among those killed.
Video of Sunday’s landing appears to show the Boeing 767 remaining airborne well down the runway before touching down.
The jet had been traveling at 129mph as it exited the ‘usable runway’ amid thunderstorms and gusting winds, according to data from flight tracking site Flightradar24.
It then came to a rest near a parking lot that services an Amazon warehouse and other businesses, with photos from the scene showing the plane largely intact behind two semitrucks.
Automatic Dependent Surveillance broadcast data also showed the plane touched down on Runway 30 at about 167 knots, or about 192mph, and went off the runway at over 120mph.
Meanwhile, Miami’s own Automated Surface Observation System reports that the plane had tailwinds of 20 knots to 30 knots amid thunderous conditions.
Aviation experts said investigators will seek to determine exactly where the plane landed and, if it was beyond the normal touchdown zone, why the pilots did not abandon the landing and circle back for another attempt.
EMAS stopping a plane at Roanoke-Blacksburg Airport in Virginia last year
The Amazon Prime Air cargo plane sits on its nose after it overshot the runway at Miami International Airport
Investigators will also examine the plane’s speed and braking, weather and wind conditions, the aircraft’s mechanical condition and other factors that could have contributed to the deadly overrun.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent a team led by Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy to Miami, where she is expected to give the agency’s first briefing on the investigation Monday.
Six airports in Florida are already utilizing EMAS, Michael Meyers, manager of the agency’s Airport Engineering Division, told WPLG in February.
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The system is ‘designed to slow the aircraft down at a rate such that it doesn’t create too much stress on the landing gear so that it decelerates at a steady pace,’ he said.
‘EMAS does have a perfect record of saving all lives in every single incident that has occurred involving EMAS,’ he noted, adding that it is useful in South Florida, which ‘has some of the busiest airspace and aviation activity in the country.’
The product absorbs the weight of the aircraft and is designed for planes weighing more than 12,500 pounds.
‘It’s very similar to, like, riding from the parking lot onto the beach, into the sand,’ Runway Safe spokesman Trip Thomas explained.
‘So you ride your bike on the parking lot, it’s really easy to go, and then you ride straight and even right into the sand, all sudden it becomes very difficult. There’s a lot of drag on the wheels and that’s exactly, essentially what’s happening here.’
The system came in use last year when a small plane overran the runway in nearby Boca Raton, Florida, and the EMAS stopped the aircraft safely and prevented it from reaching the busy roadway just feet away.
Smoke billowed into the sky after the Prime Air cargo plane crashed into a busy road after overrunning the runway in Miami on Sunday
The plane crashed into multiple vehicles after it overran the runway, leaving them ‘mangled’
Officials investigating the runway incursion on Sunday evening
Sunday’s crash halted flights at the busy travel hub for much of the afternoon.
Some 200 emergency personnel responded, finding the plane with heavy flames and smoke from a complex engine compartment fire, the department said.
Firefighters used foam from specialized airport firefighting units to extinguish the fire, and crews were still dealing with a fuel leak on the plane hours later.
The Prime Air plane came to rest beside a roadway near two semitrucks, images showed. The aircraft appeared to be resting on its belly and was largely intact despite the fire.
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.
Mary Schiavo, who is a pilot and former Inspector General of the Transportation Department, said the NTSB will also closely examine the maintenance history of this plane – particularly since it has a history of foreign ownership, including by a Russian company.
More than 160 flights were canceled and nearly 325 delayed by late Sunday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions.
At least five were killed, while three others remain in critical condition at a trauma center
The Amazon Prime plane was landing at Miami International Airport from San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it overran the runway on Sunday at around 2pm and ‘struck multiple vehicles’ on Northwest 42nd Avenue
Officials from Orlando International Airport, more than 200 miles north of Miami, said some flights were diverted there.
Amazon said in a statement that it would cooperate with any investigation.
‘We’re heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today’s incident at Miami International Airport,’ the company said. ‘Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss.’
Last year, a UPS plane crashed after losing its engine while accelerating down the runway at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport. The crash killed all three pilots and 12 people on the ground. Twenty-three more were injured.