Hear The Moment First Responders Count Number Of Dead In Amazon Plane Crash

Newly released audio captures the chilling moments first responders arrived at Miami International Airport after an Amazon Air plane crashed during a botched landing, as emergency crews could be heard counting the dead and identifying those in critical condition.

“Guys, the plane’s on fire, the plane’s on fire! Put your game faces on,” one responder said.

“It struck a truck,” the responder said of the aircraft. “We do have a patient on the ground. We’re looking and searching the area for more patients.”

A first responder then said in the muffled audio that they had recovered “one red and two black” patients — emergency-response terminology indicating one person in critical condition and two deceased. “We have three patients, appear to be … we have two blacks and one red,” someone said more clearly in additional audio published by CNN.

In total, five people on the ground were killed and five others were injured, including three who were critically injured, according to officials.

The Boeing 767-300 cargo jet, operated by 21 Air and flying for Amazon Air, skidded off the runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon at about 2 p.m. local time. The plane overran Runway 30, breached the airport’s perimeter, and struck a van and an SUV before coming to a stop and bursting into flames.

Per the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was arriving from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The aircraft was a 32-year-old Boeing 767-300 freighter. It was landing on Runway 30 when it failed to stop, traveling about 1,300 feet beyond the end of the runway before striking vehicles.

According to reports, a runway safety system known as an Engineered Materials Arresting System, or EMAS, was not installed at the end of Runway 30. EMAS uses a bed of lightweight, crushable material designed to slow and stop an aircraft that overruns a runway. The safety feature is not mandatory, though it is encouraged.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the absence of the EMAS will be included in its investigation into the deadly incident.

Miami International Airport says Runway 30 has the full 1,000-foot runway safety area required by the FAA and that EMAS is generally used at airports where space constraints prevent a full safety area from being provided. The airport says it has consistently met federal airfield safety requirements.

Some aviation experts say the incident was sparked before the plane landed. Expert Terry Tozer, for example, told The Sun that it looked “as if this started going wrong a long way from the airport.”

“If you look at all the data, it [the jet] landed halfway down the runway,” he added. “I mean, you just don’t do that.”

???? Update: Deadly Cargo Plane Crash at Miami International Airport

At least five people have died and five others were injured after an Amazon Prime Air cargo aircraft overran the runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, striking multiple vehicles and bursting… pic.twitter.com/6XLpT6mVaP

— FL360aero (@fl360aero) September 7, 2026

Related: Amazon Cargo Jet Skids Off Runway, Bursts Into Flames Outside Miami Airport