Newly released dispatch audio has captured the chilling moments after an Amazon cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport, as first responders assessed the wreckage and reported multiple victims.
Emergency crews were sent rushing to the airport on Sunday afternoon when a Boeing 767 cargo jet ran beyond the runway, crossed into traffic and collided with several vehicles.
In the radio traffic, one responder described the devastating path of the aircraft, saying it had “overran the runway,” crossed 67th Avenue and hit a truck.
The responder then reported that at least one victim was on the ground, while crews continued searching the surrounding area for anyone else who may have been hurt.
A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue worker later updated the scene, stating over dispatch that there were three patients in total, with triage indicating “two black and one red.”
First responders use color codes during triage to help sort patients quickly. Black means the person is deceased, while red means they have suffered critical, life-threatening injuries.
The cargo plane overran the runway around 2pm 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.
Fire crews rushed to Miami International Airport Sunday afternoon after a Boeing 767 jet barreled off a runway and crashed into several vehicles
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
When the emergency call initially came in, a first responder could be heard telling his crew: ‘Guys, the plane’s on fire, the plane’s on fire, put your game faces on.’
As officials arrived on the scene, it became evident just how dire the situation was.
Firefighters ran out of water and requested backup as the plane continued to burn, the audio revealed.
Crews also had to rescue a person who was trapped under a vehicle, with one emergency responder telling dispatch that they were ‘going to need extrication.’
A ‘green’ patient, someone who suffered minor injuries, was found ‘off to the side,’ according to the audio.
Authorities kept working the scene, leading to the discovery of further victims.
‘Rescue 12. So far we have four black, two reds,’ one rescuer updated.
Some 200 emergency personnel responded to the runway, finding the plane with heavy flames and smoke from a complex engine compartment fire.
Smoke billowed into the sky after the Prime Air cargo plane crashed into a busy road after overrunning the runway in Miami on Sunday
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Officials investigating the runway incursion on Sunday evening
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 fire appears to be under control, almost out,’ one firefighter told dispatch once the blaze was nearly extinguished.
‘We’re working on replenishing our vehicles, water and foam. And we’re going to also search the plane for souls on board, for the pilots.’
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.
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.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the pilots were among those killed.
Five people died in Sunday’s crash, officials said. Three were critically injured and two others were hospitalized with less severe injuries
Miami-Dade County firefighters and EMS workers rushed to the airport on Sunday
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.
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 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed that the airport is not equipped with the Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) that has been installed at more than 120 airports nationwide.
The system places beds of lightweight, crushable material at the end of a runway to help bring planes that overshoot the tarmac safely to a stop, the FAA said.
Federal aviation officials for years have recommended that airports utilize the safety system, which has been credited by the FAA with helping save at least 497 lives.