Robert A. Clifford, an internationally acclaimed aviation attorney, and his aviation experts have examined the initial data of the Amazon cargo jet crash Sunday in Miami and stated, “This appears to be a classic tailwind landing mistake where a pilot mistakenly or over-confidently decides to land with a tailwind instead of a headwind which causes excessive touchdown speed and distance from the threshold, leaving inadequate stopping distance for the airplane’s braking and reverse thrust systems to handle.”
Clifford, who has handled cases in every major commercial airline crash for nearly 50 years including the UPS cargo jet crash last November in Louisville, Kentucky, stated, “The straight-in landing was easy and quick but landing from the other side with a headwind and 40 to 60 knot lower groundspeed after a standard pattern approach would have been the wiser choice. Air traffic control may also have played a role in this case as they did in a very similar Southwest Airlines crash at Burbank, California, about 30 years ago.”
Local investigators said they were on the scene within 30 seconds, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sent a go-to team to investigate the probable cause of the crash that left five people dead and five more injured, three of them reported in critical condition. It is expected that NTSB officials will address the press today with initial information.
Clifford also expressed concerns about the absence of materials or an arresting system at the end of the runway at this airport, something that is commonly found at other major airports to avoid this type of overrun by an aircraft. Clifford said the NTSB investigators should look into why nothing was in place here. Clifford Law Offices represented the family whose car was struck by a Southwest Airlines jet that overran the runway in Chicago, killing a six-year-old boy in the back seat of their car and injuring his family on an adjacent highway in 2005. The tragedy occurred at Midway Airport, which later installed an arresting system following the death of the child- something Clifford called “graveyard engineering,” when corporations fix structures only after deaths occur.
Federal and local investigators are examining why Amazon Prime Air Flight 7598, a 1994-vintage Boeing 767-300 with tail number N1997A, reportedly operated by 21 Air out of Greensboro, NC and owned by Andromeda Leasing II LLC out of Purchase, N.Y., overran a runway at Miami International Airport (MIA) around 1:58 p.m. EST Sunday, striking multiple vehicles and catching fire. It is reported that five people were killed due to this crash, and five more people were injured, three in critical condition, including the flight crew. The incident resulted in an immediate ground stop for hours at the international airport on the busy Labor Day holiday weekend.
According to Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADSB) flight tracking and MIA Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS) weather data, Flight 7598 was performing a straight-in approach to MIA Runway 30 from the southeast from San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) with reported southerly tailwinds of about 20 knots gusting to 30 knots with thunder and active thunderstorms reported in the area. As the airplane descended through 500 feet altitude, its groundspeed was about 183 knots (about 210 mph), and it crossed the Runway 30 approach threshold around 275 feet msl (mean sea level) at about 180 knots groundspeed. The ADSB data show the airplane appears to have touched down on Runway 30 at about 167 knots groundspeed with about 5,000 feet remaining of its 9,360 overall length instead of the desired 1,000-foot touchdown point. The ADSB data further show Flight 7598 went off the end of Runway 30 at about 104 knots groundspeed, which is about 120 mph.
“The highway vehicles stood no chance against the 300,000-pound Boeing 767-300 crashing into them at that speed,” said Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago.
Images from the scene showed the aircraft resting on its belly near a roadway coming to rest in the nearby parking lot. The jet appeared largely intact despite flames and a large cloud of black smoke. It was reported that more than 60 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded within 30 seconds to extinguish the fire and evaluate victims. Officials are calling this situation “very complex.”
“The underlying factual inquiry will reveal that there will be a serious question about the pilot behavior landing with such tailwinds,” Clifford said. “Certainly, the NTSB will examine that issue fully, along with the failure to declare an emergency.”
Clifford Law Offices represents 15 people and their families who were injured or killed when a UPS cargo jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky’s airport last November, bursting into flames in a nearby warehouse area.
The NTSB will head the investigation to determine the probable cause of this crash with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other party assistance.
To speak to Bob Clifford regarding this tragic crash, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).