Investigators have recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from an Amazon cargo plane that overshot a runway in Miami, struck two vehicles and left five people dead, authorities said.
One of the vehicles hit in Sunday’s crash was a cleaning-services van carrying seven people on airport grounds, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
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After leaving the runway, the Boeing 767 ripped through a perimeter fence and collided with an SUV on a public road before breaking through another fence separating the airport from an area where robo-taxis were parked, she said.
Ms Homendy declined to provide details about the condition of the aircraft’s two pilots but said all five fatalities were among the occupants of the two vehicles struck in the crash.
Ms Homendy called the scene at Florida’s busiest airport “devastating” as investigators began examining the wreckage, hundreds of flights were delayed and emergency crews continued recovering the remains of some victims.
“We were able to recover the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder,” she said. Both devices were being transported to the NTSB for analysis.
“The investigation and access to the aircraft as well as evidence can wait while the recovery operation goes forward,” Ms Homendy said.
“That is most important, reuniting families with their loved ones,” she added.
The aircraft was a Boeing 767 manufactured in 1994 and operated by Miami-based 21 Air LLC under contract to Amazon, she said.
It was completing its third flight of the day after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The plane came to rest roughly 1,300 feet (400 meters) beyond the end of the paved runway, Ms Homendy said. She added that she had walked the entire distance across the area beyond the runway.
“There’s debris everywhere,” she said, describing spilled fuel around the site as well as fuel still inside the aircraft that must be removed.
“The Econoline van is torn apart,” she said of the first vehicle struck.
“It certainly must have been devastating,” she added.
