MIAMI, FL — Audio from the cockpit voice recorder on the Amazon Air cargo plane that overran a Miami runway suggests one of the pilots called for a go-around just seconds before the crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB said the recording captured comments about the aircraft’s excessive speed in the final moments before impact. The plane then veered off the runway, struck a van, and killed five people. Investigators have not yet released the full interviews with the two pilots, but they expect to complete a preliminary report in the coming weeks.
Pilots raised speed concerns before touchdown
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the cockpit voice recorder held more than two hours of audio, giving investigators a detailed look at the last portion of the flight. About 1 minute and 42 seconds before the crash, one of the pilots said the aircraft was going too fast, and similar comments about excessive speed continued through the rest of the recording.
The agency said that about 30 seconds before the crash, sounds consistent with the plane touching down could be heard. Roughly 15 seconds later, one pilot called for a go-around to abort the landing. Five seconds after that, the aircraft had already left the runway. The recordings do not by themselves explain why the plane overran the pavement, but they show the crew recognized a problem as the landing unfolded.
Flight data points to late go-around thrust
Investigators also described data pulled from the flight data recorder during a Tuesday briefing. NTSB investigator Chihoon Shin said the plane was lined up for landing, but several seconds before the recording ended, throttle movement increased in a way consistent with go-around thrust.
Shin said brakes were reapplied a few seconds later and remained engaged until the end of the recording. At that point, investigators saw no indication that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed. Those details are part of the agency’s effort to reconstruct exactly what happened in the final seconds before the overrun.
The aircraft was carrying cargo from Puerto Rico
Amazon Air Flight 7598 had arrived from Puerto Rico and was carrying about 32,000 pounds of mostly contact lenses, Homendy said. The cargo jet was on approach to Miami when it failed to stop on the runway and struck a Ford Econoline van owned by a company that cleans aircraft.
Seven people were inside the van when the impact occurred. Five of them were killed. The two pilots aboard the aircraft were treated and later released from the hospital, according to the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office.
Victims identified by the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office
The sheriff’s office identified the five people killed in the crash as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Narajo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
Authorities have not said publicly what caused the runway overrun, and the NTSB has not released a final determination. The focus so far has been on the plane’s speed, the pilots’ late decision to attempt a go-around, and the sequence of control inputs recorded in the aircraft’s data systems.
What investigators are trying to determine next
The NTSB said the release of the cockpit-recording summary came the same day it expected to interview the two pilots. Homendy said Tuesday that investigators were still working through the evidence gathered from the recorder and other flight data as they build the timeline of the crash.
A preliminary report is expected in the next few weeks. That report is likely to outline the basic facts established so far, including the plane’s path, the late go-around call, and the recorded actions taken in the final seconds before the Amazon cargo jet left the runway.
