A Greensboro-based company operated the Amazon cargo plane that crashed at Miami International Airport in Florida on Sunday, killing five people on the ground. The Boeing 767-300 was arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it overshot a runway in Miami, smashed through a fence and hit at least two cars on a nearby road just before about 2 p.m. Sunday.
Air cargo company 21 Air operated the plane for Amazon Air. Rescuers pulled the pilot and co-pilot from the plane, but the extent of their injuries was not clear Sunday, according to the Miami Herald. Hospitals treated five people, three in critical condition, according to the Herald.
Keith Winters, 21 Air’s CEO, posted a statement saying the company is cooperating with federal investigators trying to determine what happened. “We are devastated by the accident involving one of our aircraft in Miami today,” Winters wrote. “Our deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives.
Our immediate priorities are supporting those affected, assisting the authorities, and ensuring that accurate information is communicated as it becomes available.”
21 Air was founded in 2014 at Piedmont Triad International Airport. According to the New York Times, the airline flies primarily out of Miami and Cincinnati. FlightAware reports that the plane that crashed was 32 years old and that a New York-based leasing company, Andromeda Leasing II, owned it.
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