An Amazon Air Boeing 767 operated by cargo carrier 21 Air had an accident while landing at Miami International Airport (MIA) this afternoon, causing operations at the airport to stop for hours. While this is a pretty rough accident, I feel like it could’ve been much worse, and I hope everyone is okay.
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Boeing 767 has accident landing in Miami, shuts down airport
This accident happened this afternoon (Sunday, September 6, 2026), at Miami Airport. It involves a 32-year-old Boeing 767-300 with the registration code N1997A. It was operated by 21 Air, a cargo airline that contracts out to Amazon Air (often referred to as Prime Air), which is Amazon’s air cargo operation.
Shortly before 2PM local time, flight 2I7598 was on approach to Miami after completing a routine roughly two hour flight from San Juan (SJU), and it was coming in to land on runway 30. This runway is quite long, at 9,360 feet (around 2,850 meters).
However, the plane didn’t come to a stop in time, so it overran the runway. We’re not just talking by a little bit, but instead, by around 2,000 feet, meaning it didn’t stop in the overrun area. It continued and crossed a street, and it came to a stop in a parking lot (not that there’s anything funny about this, but the parking lot happened to be right by an Amazon fulfillment center).
The plane caught on fire, with the right wing in particular suffering major damage, and basically not being recognizable anymore.
It’s not clear if there were any injuries or fatalities here. My thoughts are with all involved. The good news is that it looks like the cockpit didn’t suffer too much damage, so I hope the pilots were able to escape. An equally big concern is if there was anyone on the road that was struck by the plane, since that could have awful implications.
The airport shut down following this accident, with dozens of flights diverting to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and West Palm Beach (DJT). This is now being investigated.
What caused the Boeing 767 accident at Miami Airport?
Miami is my home airport, and Miami is also a city where the airport is pretty close to the city, and there are lots of high rises. So many in Miami could see the smoke and “scene” from their homes.
Obviously it’s too early to tell what caused this accident. A runway that’s nearly 10,000 feet long is plenty big for a Boeing 767 to land, even with less than ideal conditions, so what could’ve contributed to this?
At the time of the accident, there were gusty winds (at an angle that made for a crosswind for runway 30), thunderstorms, and some rain. So in terms of the gusts, it’s understandable that the pilots may have approached a bit faster than usual, and the precipitation made for a wet runway, which also isn’t ideal in terms of braking.
Looking at Flightradar24 data, it seems that the plane was at a speed of around 110 knots when it went off the end of the runway, which is insanely fast. Just for context, the plane’s landing speed is only around 140 knots.
It does appear the plane was coming in a bit fast. According to Flightradar24 data, at the intersection of runway 27 and runway 30 (right near the typical landing point), the plane was at a speed of 177 knots, which again, is fast.
But still, with a nearly two mile long runway, that doesn’t explain how the plane only “lost” around 65 knots that entire way.
Was this the case of an unstable approach that should’ve been a go around? Or was something actually wrong with the plane, causing it to not slow down?
Bottom line
A 21 Air Boeing 767 operating on behalf of Amazon Air had an accident while landing in Miami this afternoon. The plane overran the runway, and not just by a little. We’re talking around 2,000 feet, as the plane went through the airport perimeter fence, crossed a road, and ended up in a parking lot, at which point the plane burst into flames.
Miami Airport has been closed for hours as a result. As of now, there are a lot more questions than answers, including how this happened, given that the plane exited the runway at a speed of around 110 knots. Most importantly, I’m keeping those involved in my thoughts, and I hope there weren’t any major injuries or casualties.
What do you make of this Amazon Air Boeing 767 accident?
Hope pilots are alright. Packages gonna be… late. More footage of the approach coming out: https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/s/rkkOKkgyoM (seemed pretty unstable, high, hot, etc.)