A few days ago, we saw a horrific aircraft accident at Miami International Airport (MIA), whereby a Boeing 767 belonging to cargo operator 21 Air (operating on behalf of Amazon Air) overran the runway, and ended up breaking through the airport perimeter fence, hitting two cars, and claiming five lives.
Little about this accident makes sense, because it just seems so avoidable. While it will take some time for an investigation to be fully performed, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has just released some more details about what happened, and it’s beyond puzzling.
In this post:
Boeing 767 slowed, then sped up, then slowed down
NTSB investigators managed to recover the flight data recorder for the Boeing 767 involved in the accident, and have already analyzed some of that data. They’ve just released the details of the final 30 seconds of the flight data recorder. Here’s the timeline, with times being the amount of time until the end of the recording of the flight data recorder:
- -0:30: the nose gear and right main landing gear touched down at a ground speed of 158 knots
- -0:23: the brakes were applied, and the plane was at a speed of 146 knots
- -0:19: the left main landing gear touched down, and the plane was at a speed of 134 knots
- -0:15: the brakes were released and the plane was at a speed of 120 knots, and the throttles “increased to values consistent with go around thrust”
- -0:11: the throttles were reduced to idle, the brakes were reapplied, and the plane was at a speed of 117 knots
- -0:07: the plane had a lateral, longitudinal, and vertical acceleration change, and was at 96 knots
- -0:00: the plane had a final ground speed of 65 knots
Can we just give the NTSB credit for their consistently exceptional work? We’ve now learned more in 72 hours about this accident than we’ve learned in around 15 months about the crash of Air India flight AI171.
What was going on with the Amazon Air Boeing 767 pilots?
Within hours of the accident, we saw a clear video of the plane’s final approach and landing, and obviously it looked a bit off — the plane was coming in fast, it only touched down way down the runway, and its left main gear initially stayed in the air.
Of course it’s easy to retroactively say “well that should’ve been a go around,” especially when we know what the outcome was. Accidents often happen due to a combination of factors, so one wonders if there was something wrong with the aircraft. But the pilots hadn’t declared any sort of emergency, so it’s hard to look at that and come up with any reasonable scenario where a go around wasn’t the answer.
This latest data very much supports that theory. It’s understandable that the reverse thrusters weren’t deployed before the left main gear touched down. But what’s really most concerning here is that 15 seconds after initially making contact with the runway, the brakes were released, and throttles were increased to values consistent with go-around thrust, only for the throttles to be reduced again four seconds later.
The mind can’t even begin to comprehend this. Unless there was some glitch that triggered an increase in thrust, it sure sounds like the pilots couldn’t decide whether to land or go around. Honestly, if they had just committed to either option, it probably wouldn’t have had fatal consequences. But when you’re touching down way late, you really don’t have the luxury of taking forever to make a decision.
If this was really a case of the pilots not being able to decide, that points to terrible crew resource management (CRM). 21 Air doesn’t exactly have a great reputation when it comes to its safety culture, so maybe that’s not all that surprising. It also has to be pointed out that a thunderstorm was rolling in, so one wonders if get-there-itis was a factor.
So, who were the pilots? There wasn’t a whole lot of Boeing 767 experience between them. The 55-year-old captain was a former Army Black Hawk pilot, he worked at regional airline SkyWest for around a year, and then he worked as a Boeing 737 captain at Kalitta Charters for around seven years. He only got his Boeing 767 type rating in June 2026, and this accident happened within three months.
The first officer was a 37-year-old with rather little experience. He was a flight instructor until 2023, then he spent three months as a first officer at regional airline SkyWest (one wonders if he even made it through training, since that’s not a lot of time?), then he worked as an MD-83 first officer at World Atlantic Airlines for around a year (the carrier largely performs deportation flights, etc.), and then he started at 21 Air in early 2025.
Obviously there just wasn’t a lot of 767 experience, and you’d hope for a better pairing. I think what’s going on here is that Amazon gave 21 Air a big contract in recent years, which greatly expanded the carrier’s 767 flying. So the airline has had to greatly increase its pilot base over the past couple of years. It’s not exactly the best paying or most reputable carrier, so it sounds like experience was lacking.
For the record, due to the number of racists who came out and suggested the pilot on the radios having an accent might explain the crash, keep in mind that the pilot communicating isn’t the pilot flying. So it was the 55-year-old former Army Black Hawk pilot at the controls.
Bottom line
We’re already learning more details about the fatal crash in Miami, involving an Amazon Air Boeing 767. According to the NTSB, 15 seconds after initially making contact with the ground, the plane’s brakes were released and the throttles were increased, only for that to be reversed seconds later.
What’s wild here is that this almost certainly wouldn’t have been fatal if the pilots had just committed to either landing or going around. But waffling like this is a problem. The captain at the controls of this flight was a former Army Black Hawk pilot, though he had only been certified on the Boeing 767 within the past few months.
What do you make of these accident details?
What is the plausibility that unbalanced or poorly secured cargo caused the plane to respond in very unexpected and quickly changing ways (if cargo slid around during landing), and could that plausibility have caused the pilots to rapidly switch back and forth between trying to brake and trying to go around.
I saw an article immediately after the crash that compared the circumstances to the Fin Air 101 crash in 1997 where improper cargo...
What is the plausibility that unbalanced or poorly secured cargo caused the plane to respond in very unexpected and quickly changing ways (if cargo slid around during landing), and could that plausibility have caused the pilots to rapidly switch back and forth between trying to brake and trying to go around.
I saw an article immediately after the crash that compared the circumstances to the Fin Air 101 crash in 1997 where improper cargo loading was a factor, but I haven't seen any other mentions.
To me, it looks like a possible altimeter malfunction. They ran horizontally an awful long time, perhaps expecting contact.
Hmm, what does owning a Tesla have to do with any of this?
@globetrotter
After reading an article " A day in the work life of an Amazon warehouse worker" long ago, I decided not ever to have an Amazon subscription. Amazon exploits its workers and vendors to maximize its profits. And I do not own a Tesla vehicle. Same as after I read numerous pieces about 40-60% of Walmart workforce live on government assistance, there is a remote chance that I will shop at Walmart or Sam Club....
After reading an article " A day in the work life of an Amazon warehouse worker" long ago, I decided not ever to have an Amazon subscription. Amazon exploits its workers and vendors to maximize its profits. And I do not own a Tesla vehicle. Same as after I read numerous pieces about 40-60% of Walmart workforce live on government assistance, there is a remote chance that I will shop at Walmart or Sam Club. There is no justification when Walmart co-owners are five sibling billionaires while the workers live on subsistence level. When I mentioned these two companies to a Swedish couple, they laughed and asked me if I knew Nestle exhibited the same predatory practice. I didn't. I am not advocating anyone boycott either company when it appears more than 80% of bloggers and readers are Amazon subscribers. As for government regulatory agencies to do their job, do not hold your breath until the "death quota" exceeds the acceptable level that has no threshold. Shamefully enough there is always "DEI/ Affirmative action blame game" quickly surfaces when thing goes hay-wired. But there is a consistent silence on reversed DEI and legacy admission, leading the pack is the entire current administration department heads and politicians plus Isom.
Last night, I watched the old episode of Frontline titled "The man who knew". John O'Neil who was the high FBI official who was relentlessly on the hunt for bin Laden since 1993 World Trade Center bombing until his death on 9/11 after the fall of the first Twin Towers. He was the most competent FBI counter-intelligent agent but was consistently sidelined by the insecure and intimidated top brass who feared his outsized perceived threat. At the time of his death, he was under-investigation for a minor transgression of his misplace briefcase which was quickly recovered whose content was not compromised. Had he not died on 9/11, he would have been prosecuted by DOJ and relieved from the FBI. I hope it won't happen to the pilot because it might be a mechanical failure of Boeing airplane. In today's political environment where destroying one's career is sport, it is least likely that he will escape unscathed, in addition to the exorbitant legal costs.
Wow, complaining about exploitation at Amazon or Tesla or Walmart.
You should see how we exploit our young servicemembers. Sending them to die for someone else's war because of politics and greed.
You want to boycott exploitation?
You can't even fully say you won't shop Amazon or Walmart. Just not a member or "remote chance", aka. at my convenience.
I suggest you leave this country and renounce your citizenship.
What a hypocrite.
Steve Giordano of Nomadic ("Cockpit Casual" Fame) had a very direct take based on this, especially considering his experience ferry flying these. He was pretty sure in his assessment that if manual brakes were applied and reverse thrusters engaged, plane would have stopped before end of runway, and in his words "Maybe even able to taxi off at the end with the brakes not on fire".
Very Very unfortunate.
i immediately thought of steve and nomadic - where did he post?
@mconti57 he Posted on Twitter (or X). Infact has commented multiple times on this particular incident now.
My purely armchair accident investigation team of Tim and myself will reveal if this was Delta...
Sorry. But based on the evidence from real pilots, it surely looks like they came in way to hot and fast, birds like the 767 want to fly, and if you don't get all of the gear locked in to place where the sensors detect that the plane is on the ground, no speed brakes, no reversers (that interlock...
My purely armchair accident investigation team of Tim and myself will reveal if this was Delta...
Sorry. But based on the evidence from real pilots, it surely looks like they came in way to hot and fast, birds like the 767 want to fly, and if you don't get all of the gear locked in to place where the sensors detect that the plane is on the ground, no speed brakes, no reversers (that interlock was probably added after the Air Egypt(?) crash where they deployed in flight), no stopping. And if you are not familiar with that, you are probably going as a pilot, why is this thing not working??? Then you finally decide that a go-around should have been done, but it's already way too late.
EMAS or not, way too fast at the end of the runway.
"We’ve now learned more in 72 hours about this accident than we’ve learned in around 15 months about the crash of Air India flight AI171."
Couldn't agree more with this statement, Ben...really sad!
The pilot is correct, his career is over, as is his life as he knows it. They will be the fall guys for this and may get jail time. Meanwhile everyone will move on. There will be no accountability for the corporate culture that allows this to happen, AMZ will announce increased profits and all will be good......until next time.
The fish rots from the head
21Air or 21Scare as it is known is just another shaddy 36th st miami cargo operator. They hire pilots who have washed out elsewhere, its pretty obvious.
I think this is where experience in the cockpit would have mattered here. It’s clear that skywest didn’t want them in the cockpit. Otherwise they would have continued on to the majors.
I’ll be interested on what captain Steve will say about this.
Amazon is known to be ruthless for cost and working conditions. It’s clear that they shifted flying to save money. With the corresponding experience as a result. I hope Amazon...
I think this is where experience in the cockpit would have mattered here. It’s clear that skywest didn’t want them in the cockpit. Otherwise they would have continued on to the majors.
I’ll be interested on what captain Steve will say about this.
Amazon is known to be ruthless for cost and working conditions. It’s clear that they shifted flying to save money. With the corresponding experience as a result. I hope Amazon does not get off the hook in this regard. It’s easy to say. It was someone else although its procurement practices drove this accident.
Flying cargo might not be a worse choice to SkyWest.
I do hope Jeff will put his own money and fix the aviation industry.
But I hope Amazon doesn't get hooked into their contractor's corporate issues.
My Prime membership is already very expensive.
The NTSB drone video is something. Just shows the scale of the accident. Neither vehicle had a chance. Just heartbreaking.
Watch enough docs on airplane crashes and you learn there is always about a half dozen decisions that could have averted the crash if they had gone differently. Looks no different here, starting with the hiring and ending with that last acceleration. Sad others had to pay the price.
And if you automate it with something that can optimize the best decision in a split second.
Sad others had to pay the price.
Sad many are too dumb to realize or see the solution.
Even if you don't fully automate (to the level of the plane taking over), there's no reason not to have a 'decision support system' that recommends the best course of action based on multiple inputs. In that scenario, the pilots must pretty much follow the directive (say, to go around) in the absence of a more pressing safety reason (e.g., the tail is physically compromised or there's a gaping hole in the fuselage).
@Trey
Humans, being humans would still override the directive. Especially in a split second decision until humans can fully process the whole situation. Time is what the pilots don't have. But if you can process everything in a split second, you have plenty of time to correct the physics of the plane.
No different than most people who tries to override the removal of humans in the cockpit and ATC.
Tragically, they don't know better.
We're after all, still human.
Let the investigation lead where it may.
I think we all need to take a deep breath and wait for Eskimo's take on this, as he always has new, innovative, and enlightening opinions on such matters. Nobody can predict what he'll add to the conversation, like fire the pilots and have AI take over the world some such blah blah blah.
That aside, it's nice to see a federal agency not politicized or gutted by the fat orange Nazi and his cronies;...
I think we all need to take a deep breath and wait for Eskimo's take on this, as he always has new, innovative, and enlightening opinions on such matters. Nobody can predict what he'll add to the conversation, like fire the pilots and have AI take over the world some such blah blah blah.
That aside, it's nice to see a federal agency not politicized or gutted by the fat orange Nazi and his cronies; an agency still dedicated to the public good and not murdering the truth for someone else's grift or political gain. The NTSB remains world class, and that's heartening.
Seriously, NTSB Chair Homendy is a solid leader and public servant. She and her team have dealt with an unrelenting string of crises during her tenure—from East Palestine (2023) and the Key Bridge (2024) to the Potomac mid-air (2025) and the LGA collision (2026), and now this. I wish others adopted their no-nonsense, facts-based approach. Hopefully we will again, soon. (Unrelated, but, just 55 days until the Midterms... *cough*)
Gee, maybe if the brown guy had been at the controls, and the white guy on the radio, this wouldn't have happened.
/s
Woah, that 'trajectory reconstruction' by Scott is wild. At ~120 knots, doubtful EMAS would have stopped it in time, but reducing its speed might have saved lives on the ground. (Also, Ben's comparison to the still ongoing AI171 investigation, ouch...)
It really is. They landed waaaaay down the runway. Add in the increased thrust and it’s no wonder they overran. Just awful all around.
Yup, real bad (and the pilots at 21 Air apparently know it.) There are reports of one of them explicitly saying "my career is over" following the accident. Thing is, no rational pilot 'intends' to crash. So, whether this was a honest (yet fatal) human error, gross negligence (say, by the company), or some combination of factors (highly likely), is yet to be determined (I trust the NTSB to find out). Either way, I'd hope...
Yup, real bad (and the pilots at 21 Air apparently know it.) There are reports of one of them explicitly saying "my career is over" following the accident. Thing is, no rational pilot 'intends' to crash. So, whether this was a honest (yet fatal) human error, gross negligence (say, by the company), or some combination of factors (highly likely), is yet to be determined (I trust the NTSB to find out). Either way, I'd hope we can resist scapegoating 'who,' and focus on 'why' this happened, so as to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
I hate to say it, but this is a very clear example of what Nathan Fielder was talking about vis a vis pilot communicaton. The FAA didn't listen, congress didn't listen, and now five people are needlessly dead.
Yes. RIP.
(Also, isn't the guy who graduated from one of Canada's top business schools with really good grades? Yeah, 21 Air was no 'Miracle over the Mojave,' that's for sure. If only the pilots had listened to "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence...)
The FAA, and most government agencies in the US, and around the world for that matter, are rotten to the core. Few stand out as still being truly great at what they do. NTSB, NOAA, NASA, and very few others are still amazing. The NTSB can only make recommendations, and it's up to the FAA to enforce them. And before others bring up and try to blame this person or that person, it's nothing new. FAA has been rotten since the 70s.
I really hate to put this on the pilots but....
Eskimo in 5...4...3....
2...1...
2…1…. BANANA!
Don't want to add to speculation before the full investigation is released but there are now reports from witnesses that one of the pilots was 'visibly shaken' and bloodied after the crash, asked to call his wife and reportedly said: "My career is over".
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-plane-crash-pilot-shaking-miami-witness/
That's not the worst of it. One 737 pilot says he think the pilots might be prosecuted for manslaughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E6YLXHjx6c
That video came out before the NTSB data. So he doesn't know about the brief increase in thrust consistent with initiating a go-round and then canceling it. I wonder if it's possible that there was some technical fault that reduced thrust and prevented a go-round even though the pilot was trying? Or some other...
That's not the worst of it. One 737 pilot says he think the pilots might be prosecuted for manslaughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E6YLXHjx6c
That video came out before the NTSB data. So he doesn't know about the brief increase in thrust consistent with initiating a go-round and then canceling it. I wonder if it's possible that there was some technical fault that reduced thrust and prevented a go-round even though the pilot was trying? Or some other pilot error such as a setting that prevented full thrust, making a go-round impossible despite the pilot's attempts to do it?