Amazon Air 767 black box data reveals unusual landing sequence before Miami crash that killed 5
Fresh data from the flight data recorder aboard the Amazon Air Boeing 767-300 that crashed Sunday at Miami International Airport has revealed an unusual sequence of events in the final moments before the aircraft hurtled off the runway, raising new questions about what the crew was experiencing in the cockpit.
The twin-engine cargo jet, operated for Amazon by contractor 21 Air, was carrying roughly 230,000 pounds of freight when it overran the runway, plowed through an airport fence, and struck a van filled with cleaning workers on a service road before hitting concrete barriers and an SUV. The impact killed five people in the van and left three others hospitalized. The aircraft then caught fire.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, which released details from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder Tuesday evening, the recovery of the so-called black boxes from the tail section was successful, and investigators were able to extract more than 400 data streams from the recorders at the agency’s lab in Washington.
The data reveal a sequence that aviation experts say is difficult to explain under normal landing conditions. About 30 seconds before the recording ended, while the aircraft was moving at more than 180 mph, the nose gear and the right rear landing gear touched down on the runway. The left rear landing gear did not make contact until nine seconds later. In a standard landing, all main body wheels are expected to touch down nearly simultaneously, pilots say.
But the most puzzling details emerged in the seconds that followed. Fifteen seconds before the recording cut off — as the plane was still traveling close to 140 mph — the wheel brakes were released and the throttles were advanced to full takeoff power. Four seconds after that, the throttles were pulled back to idle and the brakes were reapplied, according to NTSB investigator-in-charge Chihoon Shin.
Investigators have not determined why the crew acted that way. One possibility being examined is that the pilots sensed a problem on touchdown and initiated a go-around — an aborted landing procedure that calls for maximum engine power and a climb back into the air to circle for another attempt — before reversing their decision.
“What we need to do is talk to the crew and get their account to understand how they’re manipulating the controls,” Shin said Tuesday. “Crew interviews will help fill in some of the blanks for us — in terms of actions that they might have done but not verbalized. And that’s something we need a complete understanding of before we’re about to analyze what happened with the throttles in this case.”
The NTSB also noted that there is no indication the pilots deployed speed brakes or thrust reversers — two systems designed specifically to slow an aircraft after landing. Why those systems were not used is likely to become a central focus of the investigation.
Investigators have scheduled interviews with both pilots and with 21 Air’s assistant chief pilot for Wednesday, according to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. Although the cockpit voice recorder captured more than two hours of quality audio, the board said it wants to hear directly from the pilots before releasing details of what was said in the cockpit as the landing went wrong.
The pilots have been identified by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office as Joseph Carol, 55, the captain, and Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37, the first officer. Carol, who served as pilot-in-command, had more than 7,000 total flying hours and had been certified on the Boeing 767 since May. Silva Molina logged more than 2,500 flying hours and obtained his 767 certification in April 2025.
The crash has also put a harsh spotlight on the broader safety environment around airfield ground operations. The van that was struck was occupied by employees of Professional Ocean Service Corp., a contract cleaning company that worked for airlines at Miami International Airport. The company said in a statement it was “heartbroken by this unimaginable tragedy,” adding that its employees were like family.
The victims were identified as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
Three other people remained hospitalized as of Tuesday morning, according to the sheriff’s office. Ridoel Averhoff Diaz, 32, and Eugenio Corredor, 79, were listed in critical condition, while Roosevelt Sebastian Perdomo Torres, 36, was in stable condition.
The crash is likely to renew scrutiny of runway safety and the risks posed to ground personnel working near active runways. Although commercial aviation accidents have declined sharply over the past two decades, runway overruns remain one of the more persistent safety challenges, particularly with heavy cargo operations during adverse conditions or mechanical anomalies.
Meanwhile, investigators are continuing to collect perishable evidence, including debris found in a parking lot near the crash site and a black box recovered from one of the vehicles struck by the plane. They have also examined the aircraft’s engines, cockpit, and ground markings, and visited the air traffic control tower and the Terminal Radar Approach Control facility to review radar data and communications.
The NTSB has stressed that early information about an accident is often incomplete or inaccurate. “Information that we receive within hours and days of an accident can often be wrong,” Homendy said. “A lot is going on, and a lot of information is coming together that we have to validate. So it does take time to do that.”
The flight originated in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was carrying more than 32,000 pounds of cargo, mostly contact lenses, when it crashed on approach to Miami. One of MIA’s runways remains closed as the investigation continues, though a separate runway reopened for departures Tuesday evening.
The NTSB investigation is expected to take months, but the initial data has already offered a rare and sobering glimpse into the chaotic final seconds of a flight that ended in tragedy on a Sunday afternoon.