Amazon Air 767 leaves Miami runway 30 and hits vehicles on the perimeter

A Boeing 767-300 cargo jet flying for Amazon Air overran runway 30 at Miami International Airport at about 2 p.m. on Sunday, struck vehicles on a road at the northwest edge of the field and caught fire. The Federal Aviation Administration identified the flight as 21 Air Flight 7598, inbound from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Airport spokesman Greg Chin said all runways and taxiways were closed by 3 p.m. and a ground stop was in effect.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue sent more than 60 units. Crews arrived to an aircraft on fire with heavy smoke. The department said there were multiple patients. Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said an "Amazon Air plane operated by 21 Air experienced an incident while attempting to land" and that the company's first concern was the people involved. She said details were still being gathered.

Flightradar24 identified the hull as N1997A, a 21 Air Boeing 767-33A(ER) converted to freighter configuration. The aircraft first flew in 1994 as a passenger jet and was converted around 2015-2016. It is powered by two GE CF6-80C2B6F engines. The San Juan-Miami sector lasted 2 hours 11 minutes. ADS-B data showed 112 knots as the jet left the usable pavement and 69 knots on the last received point. The aircraft came to rest near a parking lot that serves an Amazon warehouse and other businesses beside the airport.

Runway 30 is more than 9,000 feet long. CNN's review of air traffic control audio found that the crew did not declare an emergency before landing. Inspection crews later reported no parts on the runway itself. The jet did damage navigational equipment when it left the pavement. The FAA said it will investigate. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering information. Why the aircraft could not stop on a dry afternoon runway of that length is the question both agencies now have to answer.

21 Air is a Miami-based cargo operator that flies 767s for Amazon and DHL. Prime Air Flight 7598 is a regular San Juan-Miami freighter. Sunday's overrun closed one of the busiest passenger and cargo hubs in the southeastern United States on a holiday weekend. A ground stop at MIA backs traffic into San Juan, Atlanta, New York and the rest of the Florida system. How long the field stays closed depends on wreckage removal, the fire damage to the northwest perimeter, and whether the navigational aids on runway 30 can be restored.

The 767 freighter conversion is a workhorse of the e-commerce lift. Many of the hulls are three decades old. Age alone does not explain an overrun. Investigators will look at approach speed, weight, brake temperature, thrust reverser use, runway condition, and whether any system failed after touchdown. Until those items are public, the verified record is short: a 32-year-old converted 767, no emergency call, 112 knots off the end of runway 30, vehicles struck, fire, multiple patients, airport stopped.

Miami-Dade and federal investigators will also have to name the people in the vehicles on the perimeter road. An overrun that stays on airport land is one class of accident. An overrun that crosses into the public road system is another. That second class is what Sunday produced.