Cargo Jet Tried to Abort Unsteady Landing Before Miami Crash, Flight Data Indicates

 

Cargo Jet Tried to Abort Unsteady Landing Before Miami Crash, Flight Data Indicates

**The pilots of an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane attempted a "go-around"—aborting the landing and taking off again—after the 32-year-old Boeing 767 touched down on the runway at Miami International Airport. The flight data recorder shows the pilots reversed their decision just 11 seconds before the crash, a final, fatal hesitation that killed five people on the ground .**

## The Critical 11 Seconds

The flight data recorder recovered from the wreckage has provided investigators with a shocking, second-by-second account of the final moments. It suggests that after a hard and fast touchdown, the pilots made a desperate but ultimately fatal decision.

The timeline released by the NTSB reveals the following sequence:

- **The High-Speed Touchdown:** 30 seconds before the recording ended, the nose gear and right main landing gear hit the runway at a speed of **158 knots (181 mph)**. 19 seconds before the end, the left main landing gear touched down at **134 knots** . This indicates a high-speed landing that likely compromised the aircraft's ability to stop safely.

- **The Decision to Go Around:** A few seconds after the initial touchdown, the pilots released the brakes and increased engine thrust to levels consistent with a "go-around" — a standard maneuver to abort a landing and climb back into the air . This was a late but potentially life-saving decision that could have averted the crash.

- **The Fatal Reversal:** Then, just 11 seconds before the crash, the pilots reversed course. They reduced the throttles back to idle, reapplied the brakes, and committed to the landing . The plane's final recorded ground speed was still 65 knots (75 mph) . It never stopped.

## The "Unsteady" Landing

Beyond the attempted go-around, the data highlights a critical failure: the pilots did not deploy the aircraft's primary braking aids.

The NTSB confirmed there was **"no indication in the recorded data that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed"** . Speed brakes are devices on the wings that increase drag to slow the plane, and thrust reversers redirect engine exhaust forward to act as a brake.

The absence of these critical systems suggests that the landing was unsteady from the start, and the pilots may have been struggling to control the aircraft even before they committed to the landing attempt.

## A Devastating Scene

The crash occurred on Sunday afternoon as the Boeing 767 was arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico on its third flight of the day .

The plane overran the runway by approximately **1,300 feet (396 meters)**, crashing through a perimeter fence and striking two vehicles. The first was a cleaning crew van carrying seven people, which was "torn apart" on impact, killing all on board. The jet then struck an SUV on a public road before coming to a stop in a parking lot next to a fleet of Tesla robotaxis .

## What Happens Next

The cockpit voice recorder has been recovered along with the flight data, and NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy confirmed that investigators will interview both surviving pilots on Wednesday . They are the primary witnesses to what happened in the final moments.

The NTSB investigation is expected to focus on the pilots' actions, the aircraft's mechanical condition, and whether the 32-year-old jet was adequately maintained. The agency is also expected to examine the data from the "black boxes" to better understand why a landing attempt that was already going wrong was not aborted in time .