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 in the crash, and five more people were injured, three in critical condition, including the flight crew. The incident resulted in an immediate ground stop 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 Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and a recognized international leader in aviation law.
“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 said. “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.”
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. 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 pilot behavior landing with such tailwinds,” Clifford said. “Certainly, the NTSB will examine that issue fully, along with the failure to declare an emergency. Also to be examined will be the performance of the engines to see if the reverse thrusters were properly deployed.”
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).