One of the pilots flying the Amazon cargo jet that crashed in Miami, killing five people, reportedly told his wife “my career is over” moments after the incident. Investigators are probing the crash, which saw an Amazon Prime plane overshoot the runway at Miami International Airport by around 400 metres on Sunday (September 6).
Five people travelling inside a van nearby were killed when the plane crash-landed, and another five were injured. In the days after the crash, an eyewitness says he let one of the pilots use his phone to call his wife moments after the tragedy, CBS News reports.
Eyewitness account of pilot's call
Abraham Altamar told the outlet he was working inside a nearby building and on the phone to his wife when the pilot approached him. “He was, like, shaking and, and a little injured in his forehead and his hand,” Mr Altamar recalled. After the pilot said he needed to call his wife, Mr Altamar lent him his phone.
“He was just, like, telling her that he was fine, 'Just tell my mom that I was in the accident, but I'm already out of the plane, that I'm good,'” Mr Altamar continued. His wife, Alexis, said the pilot was upset and said: “My career is over.”
Pilots identified and flight data reviewed
The pilots were identified Tuesday as Joseph Carroll, 55, and Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37. It wasn't immediately clear which pilot Altamar spoke with. Flight data suggest the Amazon cargo plane tried to abort an unsteady landing before smashing into the van, according to information investigators released Tuesday (September 8).
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators will interview the pilot and co-pilot on Wednesday as they try to determine why the jet overran the runway while landing Sunday. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said they are reviewing flight data and cockpit recordings to figure out what happened in the seconds before the aircraft slammed into the van on airport property, careened through a fence and then smashed an SUV on a city street.
Homendy said investigators want to talk to the pilots before releasing anything from the cockpit voice recorder about why they appeared to briefly attempt to perform a go-around to retry the landing approach before abandoning that and trying to stop the plane. She said the data showed the thrust reversers were never used to help stop the plane.
