Overview
- A 767 Amazon cargo jet overran a Miami International Airport runway on Sunday, slid past pavement, crossed a road, and crashed, killing five people and injuring others.
- Miami International Airport does not have an Engineered Material Arresting System, known as EMAS, which is designed to slow overrunning aircraft by letting tires sink into crushable blocks at runway ends.
- The FAA says about 70 U.S. airports use EMAS and that the system has stopped 26 overrunning aircraft and protected nearly 500 people, though EMAS is normally used where a full 1,000-foot runway safety area cannot be provided.
- Airport officials say MIA meets federal inspection and safety requirements and will cooperate with the NTSB and FAA investigations that are actively examining causes and safety gaps.
- Aviation experts say EMAS might have reduced the crash’s severity or kept the plane on airport property, and investigators’ findings could prompt recommendations on runway design or new safety installations.