NTSB Blames Controller for Amazon Plane Crash
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report on the Amazon-branded cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport, where five people died and two were seriously injured last month.
The investigation revealed that an air traffic controller failed to warn the pilots about strong tail winds before they landed the Boeing 767, which was carrying packages of contact lenses for Amazon. The plane came in too fast and careened off the runway, hitting a van and crashing through a perimeter fence before coming to rest with its nose in a parking lot fence.
The NTSB report stated that federal regulations require air traffic controllers to inform pilots about wind direction and velocity when authorizing use of a runway if a tail wind component exists. However, the controller in this case did not issue any information about the wind to the pilots.
Experts said that tail winds can make landing a plane harder and that it's the responsibility of the air traffic controller to issue wind warnings, especially when there are gusts involved.