Miami-Dade sheriff confirms identities of 5 victims in deadly Amazon plane crash
Fox News correspondent Danamarie McNicholl reported on the Miami-Dade sheriff’s confirmation of the five people killed after an Amazon cargo plane overshot a runway at Miami International Airport and slammed into a van. Appearing on “The Story,” McNicholl also outlined the ongoing NTSB investigation, as officials review the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder in an effort to determine what caused the deadly crash.
One of the pilots aboard an Amazon cargo plane that crashed at Miami International Airport, leaving five people dead, reportedly told his wife by phone that his “career was over,” according to a new report.
Abraham Altamar told CBS News he saw the plane erupt into a fiery wreck Sunday while he was working in a nearby building. He did not say which of the two pilots he later spoke with.
Altamar said he was on FaceTime with his wife when the pilot came up to him.
“He was, like, shaking and, and a little injured in his forehead and his hand,” Altamar said. “I was like, ‘Hey, you want me to call 911?’ He’s like, ‘No, we already called them.’”
Investigators continued their work Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, after an Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 went through a fence and struck vehicles at Miami International Airport on Sunday. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The pilot then used Altamar’s phone to call his wife and explain what had happened, CBS reported.
According to Altamar, the pilot reassured his wife that he was OK and asked her to tell his mother he had been in an accident but had survived.
During this conversation, the pilot also reportedly said, “My career is over.”
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office identified the two pilots as Joseph Carroll, 55, and Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37.
A police officer looks on at the Amazon cargo plane on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, after it crashed at Miami International Airport on Sunday. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A LinkedIn profile for Carroll lists him as a captain for 21 Air, the company operating the plane that crashed over the weekend. A profile for Molina lists him as a first officer at 21 Air.
Federal Aviation Administration records show both men hold airline transport pilot certificates and are qualified to fly Boeing 767 aircraft, the model involved in the Miami crash.
The aircraft was on its third flight of the day when it tried landing at Miami International.
Damaged vehicles are seen at Miami International Airport on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, after an Amazon cargo plane crashed into them on Sunday in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The jet overshot the runway by at least 1,300 feet beyond the paved surface before crashing into multiple vehicles, including a 2012 white Ford Econoline van with passengers inside, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said during a Monday press conference.
The aircraft then crashed through the airport perimeter and struck a civilian vehicle, a Toyota Corolla Cross LE.
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz released the names of the five people who were killed, all of whom were inside vehicles that were hit by the plane.
Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, holds a press conference on the investigation into the Amazon Cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport on Sept. 7, 2026, in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
They were identified as: Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and 47-year-old Javierkys Reyes Quevedo.
Five others were injured, including the pilots, who were treated and released. The other three people remained hospitalized as of Tuesday, with two of them in critical condition.
News Outlet reached out to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office for additional comment.
