One of the pilots of the Amazon cargo plane that crashed in Miami last weekend, killing five people on the ground, repeatedly warned the other pilot the aircraft was “too fast” during the final approach and after touchdown, according to newly released information from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The pilots have been identified as Capt. Joseph Carroll, 55, and First Officer Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37, both of cargo airline 21 Air.
The NTSB did not identify which pilot was making the warnings or which pilot was receiving them as they approached Miami International Airport on Sunday.
The warnings continued for nearly two minutes, but the receiving pilot never gave “a consistent verbal response” to them, according to the NTSB’s summary of the cockpit voice recorder.
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Information from the flight data recorder shows the plane made an unstable approach in strong winds. After touchdown, the pilots briefly tried to take off again by advancing the throttles and releasing the brakes before abandoning the maneuver about four seconds later.
The cockpit voice recorder also captured a series of automated warnings, including repeated “sink rate” and “too low terrain” alerts, as the aircraft descended toward the runway.
FlightRadar24 data indicates the Amazon plane first touched down nearly 5,000 feet into the airport’s 9,360-foot Runway 30, leaving it with less than half the remaining runway to stop.
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The plane touched down awkwardly before the pilots briefly attempted a go-around, then resumed braking, according to the NTSB. The Boeing 767 then barreled about 1,300 feet beyond the end of the runway and struck a van, killing the five people inside.
The five people killed in the van were part of a crew that cleaned planes at the airport, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday.
Five others were injured, including two who were in critical condition as of Tuesday. The pilots, who were injured as well, were treated and released before speaking with investigators on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.
The full transcript of the cockpit conversation has not yet been released as the investigation continues.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
