NTSB Report Blames Air Traffic Controllers for Amazon Cargo Plane Crash

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that air traffic controllers failed to warn pilots of an Amazon cargo plane about strong tail winds before it crashed in Miami last month. The crash, which occurred on September 6th, resulted in the deaths of five people and injured several others.

The report states that just four minutes before clearing the plane for landing, an air traffic controller had provided a wind advisory to a different flight, noting gusts of up to 25 mph from the south. However, this information was not shared with the pilots of the Amazon cargo plane.

Experts say that tail winds can make it harder to slow down a plane and control its landing. Tony Mello, a former Federal Aviation Administration official, stated that 'when you've got winds like that, it is your responsibility as a controller to issue that to a pilot, especially on landing and especially when you have gusts.'

The NTSB report notes that the pilots had flown together for the first time just earlier that day. The cockpit audio recordings captured a series of automated warnings from the plane about its speed of descent and approaching terrain.