NTSB to release readout from cockpit voice recorder following Amazon cargo plane crash that killed 5

Cockpit voice recordings from inside the Amazon Air cargo plane that overran a Miami runway crashing into a van and leaving five people dead, indicate one of the pilots called for a “go-around” to abort the landing just seconds before the crash.

The NTSB, which is investigating the crash, released a readout of the final minutes before the crash taken from the cockpit voice recorder, which contained more than 2 hours of audio.

About 1 minute and 42 seconds before the plane crashed, one of the pilots warned they were going too fast and continued to make comments about the plane’s “excessive speed throughout the remainder of the recording,” according to the NTSB summary.

About 30 seconds before the crash, the NTSB said sounds similar to the aircraft touching down can be heard, but about 15 seconds later, one of the pilots called for the “go-around” to abort the landing. Just five seconds later, the plane had already veered off the runway.

The release of the select moments captured on the cockpit voice recordings came the same day the NTSB expected to interview the two pilots, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters at an earlier press briefing.

In its update on Wednesday, the NTSB did not share any information from the pilot interviews.

A preliminary report is expected in the new few weeks.

At the press briefing Tuesday, NTSB officials discussed some of the details recovered from the flight data recorder, which indicated that the plane was coming in for landing, but that several seconds before the recording ends, throttles increased consistent with a “go-around thrust,” NTSB investigator Chihoon Shin said. A few seconds later, brakes were reapplied and continued to be applied until the end of the recording, but there was no indication that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed, he said. 

The cargo plane, Amazon Air Flight 7598 arriving from Puerto Rico, was carrying about 32,000 pounds of mostly contact lenses, Homendy said.

When it overran the runway, the plane hit a Ford Econoline van owned by a company that cleans aircraft, with seven people inside. 

The five people who were killed were identified by the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office as: Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Narajo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.

The aircraft’s two pilots were treated and have been released from the hospital, according to the sheriff’s office.