By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The pilots of a Miami-based 21 Air cargo plane operating for Amazon.com that crashed in Miami last month killing five people, were unaware of wind conditions, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday.
The NTSB’s preliminary report is the first detailed account of the September 6 crash and points to a series of likely failures — from excessive speed and unused braking systems to missing wind information from an air traffic controller — that may have led to one of the deadliest US runway accidents in years.
The 21 Air-operated cargo flight for Amazon Air, which is Amazon’s cargo logistics network, overran a runway while landing at Miami International Airport and struck two vehicles on the ground. Amazon has since paused use of 21 Air.
The NTSB said a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controller issued a landing clearance, but did not provide information on the wind as required by the FAA.
About four minutes before issuing the landing clearance, when asked by another flight for wind information, the controller stated winds were from 190° at 19 knots with gusts to 22 knots. The 21 Air flight was not on the radio frequency at the time, the NTSB said.
The FAA did not immediately comment.
The aircraft was a 32-year-old Boeing 767-300 freighter that had previously operated as a passenger jet for various airlines from 1994 to 2015.
The NTSB said the captain of the 21 Air-operated plane considered aborting the landing after the aircraft touched down, citing evidence from a flight data recorder.
The NTSB said the first officer cautioned the captain they were flying “too fast” just over a minute before touching down on the runway that they overran and made additional comments about the airplane’s excessive speed.
The NTSB said the captain did not verbally acknowledge all of the first officer’s comments about speed. The NTSB said data showed the speed brakes remained stowed and the thrust reversers did not deploy during the landing.
The airplane touched down about 3,750 feet (1143 meter) past the start of the runway at a groundspeed of 160 knots (184mph).
The cargo plane was on its third flight of the day, coming from San Juan, Puerto Rico. It had flown from Cincinnati to Miami and from Miami to San Juan earlier before the crash.
Amazon said it remains committed to supporting the NTSB’s ongoing investigation.
21 Air said its “executive leadership team is actively engaged in managing operational risk and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.”
The company added it is reviewing the NTSB preliminary report and “will take all appropriate action to improve our safety based on the facts as they are established.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
