The pilot of an Amazon Air cargo plane urgently warned that the aircraft was traveling too fast for a safe landing moments before it overran a Miami runway and crashed, killing five people, according to cockpit audio transcripts released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The NTSB shared the audio transcript on Wednesday, detailing the pilot's state in the final moments before the September 6 crash. The recordings revealed a pilot calling for a "go around" to abort the landing sequence. Data indicated the plane's brakes were released and throttles engaged just 15 seconds before the impact, an attempt to regain altitude.
Despite the pilot's caution about the excessive speed, the attempt to abort the landing came too late. The aircraft crashed through a fence and into a van operated by an airline cleaning company, killing all five occupants. The victims were identified as Rolando Aleman, 55, Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53, Julio C Pineda, 75, Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53, and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
<![CDATA[The pilot cautioned that they were going 'too fast' to make a safe landing, but the panicked call came too late, and the aircraft crashed and veered off the runway and crashed into a van, killing five people]]>Officials stated that electronic systems on board also issued multiple warnings approximately one minute before the crash. Lead investigator Chihoon Shin reported that the plane's nose landing gear touched down at 182 mph. The brakes were not applied for another seven seconds, and the main landing gear made contact with the runway four seconds after that.
Former Federal Aviation Administration investigator Michael O’Donnell described the touchdown sequence as "really bad," suggesting an unstable approach and a missed opportunity to execute a "go around" much earlier. He noted that the nose hitting the ground first indicates a loss of control.
<![CDATA[The aircraft crashed through a fence and into a van owned by an airline cleaning company, killing all five workers inside the van]]>At the time the throttles were engaged for the "go around" maneuver, the plane was traveling at 138 mph. Investigators are still working to determine the aircraft's proximity to the end of the runway at that critical juncture. Aviation expert Steven Arroyo suggested the timeline points to indecision or confusion in the cockpit regarding whether to abort the landing.
The pilots on board, Jaime Felipe Silva Molina and Joseph Carroll, survived the crash with minor injuries and have been interviewed by the NTSB. The investigation into the exact cause of the tragedy is ongoing.