Witness Details Pilot's Anguish Following Fatal Amazon Cargo Plane Runway Overrun in Miami

A pilot involved in the deadly crash of an Amazon cargo aircraft at Miami International Airport was left visibly shaken, injured, and expressing deep professional distress in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, according to an eyewitness who spoke with the crew member moments after the incident. The catastrophic runway overrun resulted in the deaths of five people after the heavy aircraft plowed through airport boundaries and into ground traffic.

The witness, Abraham Altamar, described the scene of the fiery September 6 collision as both surreal and frightening. Altamar had been working inside a building situated near the airfield perimeter when the cargo plane failed to stop, breached airport barriers, and came to an abrupt halt nearby. At the time of the encounter, Altamar was actively on a FaceTime call with his wife.

According to Altamar, one of the pilots emerged from the wreckage and approached him in a state of acute physical and emotional shock. Altamar observed that the aviator was visibly trembling and had suffered apparent injuries to his hand and forehead. Concerned by the crew member's condition, Altamar offered to contact emergency dispatchers, but the pilot clarified that emergency personnel had already been alerted to the crash.

Rather than seeking immediate medical intervention from bystanders, the pilot requested the use of Altamar's mobile phone to make a personal call to his family. Altamar handed his phone over, allowing the pilot to urgently communicate with his wife and provide initial assurances regarding his physical survival following the high-speed impact.

During the conversation, the pilot instructed his wife to notify his mother about the crash, emphasizing that while he had been involved in the severe accident, he was out of the aircraft and physically safe. Altamar’s wife, Alexis Altamar, who remained on the video line, recounted that the pilot was profoundly distraught and made the grim declaration that his aviation career was over.

Authorities and public records later identified the two cockpit crew members aboard the flight as 55-year-old Captain Joseph Carroll and 37-year-old First Officer Jaime Felipe Silva Molina. Both individuals were employed by 21 Air, the contract air carrier operating the flight on behalf of Amazon Prime Air. Official records from the Federal Aviation Administration and professional profiles confirmed their operational roles, though it remained unclear which of the two men spoke with Altamar.

Both pilots received medical treatment for their injuries following the crash and were subsequently discharged from hospital care, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy. Newly surfaced cellphone video recorded in the immediate aftermath of the accident appeared to show a crew member jumping down from the disabled aircraft to reach safety.

The fatal sequence began on September 6, 2026, when Prime Air Flight 7598 overran the designated runway during its landing sequence at Miami International Airport. Federal investigators reported that after failing to decelerate on the tarmac, the cargo jet struck airfield navigation equipment before colliding directly with a cleaning crew transport van carrying seven airport personnel.

The plane's momentum continued past the airport's operational boundary, propelling the aircraft through a perimeter security fence. Once outside the airfield confines, the plane struck an occupied Toyota SUV traveling on a nearby roadway, barreled through a second fence line, and finally came to rest near a fleet of parked Tesla robotaxis.

All five individuals killed in the disaster were occupants of the two ground vehicles struck by the plane, officials confirmed. The violent collision caused extensive damage along the runway overrun path, scattering wreckage across both airfield grounds and neighboring civilian infrastructure.

Federal investigators from the NTSB arrived at the scene on Monday to lead the comprehensive inquiry into the factors that contributed to the runway excursion. Chair Jennifer Homendy characterized the crash site as devastating, noting the presence of deep tire tracks transitioning from the paved surface into the grass, accompanied by widespread debris across the entire trajectory.

Specialists have since recovered both of the aircraft's critical black boxes, consisting of the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. The recovered units were transported directly to the NTSB’s technical laboratories in Washington, D.C., where engineers will extract and analyze flight parameters and cockpit communications.

Federal investigators have not yet conducted formal interviews with Carroll or Silva regarding the events preceding the crash. Both the operating carrier, 21 Air, and retail giant Amazon have stated that they are cooperating fully with federal regulators and investigators during the ongoing safety inquiry.

In addition to examining pilot actions, aircraft mechanical performance, and environmental conditions, federal officials indicated that the investigation will review runway stopping mechanisms at major domestic airports. Specifically, investigators plan to assess whether the implementation of safety arrestor beds should be expanded more widely across the nation's commercial aviation hubs.

The system in question, known as an Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS), utilizes light, crushable concrete materials placed at the terminus of runways to reliably decelerate overrunning planes by sinking their landing gear. While the FAA notes that EMAS installations are currently deployed at more than 70 airports lacking standard 1,000-foot safety buffers, Miami International Airport officials confirmed that the runway involved in Sunday's fatal overrun already possessed the standard 1,000-foot safety overrun area.