MIAMI — Investigators have recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the Amazon-branded cargo plane that overran a runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday, but recovering victims remains the priority, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, press conference at MIA.

Five people were killed and five others seriously injured when the Boeing 767-300, operated by 21 Air on an Amazon-branded flight, overshot the runway after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico — the aircraft’s third flight of the day after Cincinnati–Miami and Miami–San Juan legs, Homendy said. Two crew members were aboard.

Homendy described the crash scene as “devastating,” with debris from the aircraft, vehicles, and airport fencing scattered across the area. After overrunning the runway, the plane struck navigational aids and equipment, then hit a white Ford van owned by contract cleaning company Professional Ocean Service Corp that had seven people inside the airport perimeter. The van was “torn apart,” she said.

The aircraft then traveled through a perimeter fence and collided with a Toyota on Northwest 67th Avenue — BBC identified a Corolla; NBC News described an SUV with passengers — before coming to rest about 1,300 feet beyond the runway near a fence line separating an area where Tesla robotaxis were stationed.

“The investigation and access to the aircraft, as well as evidence, can wait” while victim recovery goes forward, Homendy told reporters. The black boxes are being sent to NTSB headquarters for evaluation. Investigators expect to be on scene about a week, with more details possibly Tuesday.

Homendy said the NTSB will examine whether the runway should have had an engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) designed to slow overrun aircraft — calling that a “key” part of the probe — along with flight history, crew experience, radar data, aircraft systems and engines, and weather. Earlier BBC Verify analysis found an active thunderstorm near the airport shortly before the crash.

Amazon said it was “heartbroken” by the loss of life and is working with authorities. 21 Air expressed condolences and said it is cooperating with the investigation. This Monday briefing follows Insanity Developing’s Sunday report on the runway overrun; it is a follow-up on the NTSB’s first on-scene update, not a rewrite of the initial crash piece.

Sources