Accident investigators probing an Amazon.com cargo flight crash in Miami are scrutinizing the speed of the aircraft, whether an airport safeguard might have helped prevent the tragedy and whether the weather played a role.
At a press briefing Monday, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said those were among the many factors that the agency will evaluate, as investigators look into the accident that killed five people and injured five more.
The Boeing 767 jet, operated by cargo carrier 21 Air, wound up about 1,300 feet beyond the paved runway, Homendy said. She said the plane tore apart a Ford Econoline van that was inside the airport grounds. It was carrying seven people for a cleaning service. It also hit a Toyota SUV on the highway outside the airport.
Homendy said she walked the path of destruction, seeing the tire marks cut through the grass area outside the runway and navigation equipment, air bags and fencing strewn over the area.
"I would describe it in one word: devastating-utter devastation," Homendy said. "Hard to see."
The safety board has sent a team of 32 people to investigate and will examine a host of other factors, including how the airplane's mechanical systems performed, flight crew experience and training, and the role of air-traffic control.
Publicly available flight data will have to be compared with information gleaned from information obtained from the aircraft's black boxes. The team includes a meteorologist who will examine the weather conditions.
Amazon has said that it is working closely with local authorities and officials and will cooperate with any investigation. 21 Air said it was devastated by the accident and expressed condolences to families and loved ones of those who died.
Homendy said the black boxes have been recovered and are being sent to be read at the NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, the agency will hold another briefing that will provide more information, she said.
Miami's Runway 30 wasn't equipped with a safeguard that can prevent accidents officially classified as runway excursions. The Engineering Materials Arresting System, or EMAS, is a bed of crushable material at the end of runways designed to stop aircraft that overrun them.
Homendy said the absence of that system would be part of the investigation.
FAA and airport officials said the system wasn't deemed necessary because of a safety buffer already around the runway.
It wasn't clear whether such a system could have helped prevent the tragedy. The FAA said the crushable material can stop an aircraft traveling up to 80 miles an hour.
Publicly available flight data showed the Amazon Air cargo plane's speed was 112 knots-about 129 miles an hour-as it left the usable area of the runway, according to aviation tracker Flightradar24.
A Miami airport spokesman said the facility undergoes an FAA safety inspection each year and has consistently met federal requirements. He said the airport would evaluate any recommendations resulting from the FAA and NTSB investigations.
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