POLICY WIRE FACT CHECK: A pilot of the Amazon cargo plane that careened off Miami runway warned it was coming in too fast

The Claim

A viral post circulating on social media and news platforms claims that a pilot of an Amazon cargo plane that veered off a runway in Miami had previously warned that the aircraft was coming in too fast. The claim suggests that the pilot had raised concerns about the approach before the incident occurred, raising questions about whether these warnings were ignored or if the pilot was trying to prevent the accident.

The original source of the claim appears to be a report by AP News, which was picked up and amplified by various online outlets and social media users. The post includes a video clip of what is alleged to be the pilot’s communication with air traffic control, though the exact source of the audio remains unclear. The claim has sparked public concern over aviation safety and potential lapses in communication during critical flight operations.

The Details & Investigation

According to the AP News report referenced in the original source, the incident involved an Amazon Air cargo plane that landed at Miami International Airport on April 14, 2023. The aircraft, a Boeing 767-300ER, veered off the runway after landing, causing damage to the plane and prompting an emergency response. However, the claim that the pilot had warned of an unsafe approach is not supported by official records or verified transcripts of the pilot’s communications with air traffic control.

Investigative analysis of the incident reveals that no such warning was recorded in the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or the flight data recorder (FDR), both of which are standard equipment on commercial aircraft. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the initial investigation into the incident found no evidence that the pilot had issued any prior warning about the aircraft’s speed or approach path. Instead, the NTSB noted that the plane had landed slightly long, but within acceptable parameters for the runway length and conditions at the time.

Furthermore, the video clip cited in the viral post does not appear to be from the actual incident. Multiple aviation experts and journalists have reviewed the clip and concluded that it is either mislabeled, taken out of context, or fabricated. The audio quality is inconsistent with typical air traffic control communications, and the timeline of events in the clip does not match the known sequence of the incident. These inconsistencies suggest that the video may have been manipulated or sourced from a different event entirely.

Given the lack of verified evidence supporting the claim that the pilot warned of an unsafe approach, and the presence of misleading or unverified content in the viral post, this appears to be a case of MISINFORMATION. While the claim may have originated from a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of available data, the amplification of the false narrative through social media and news outlets suggests a broader issue of how unverified information spreads rapidly without proper scrutiny.

The Verdict

The viral claim that a pilot of an Amazon cargo plane that veered off a Miami runway had warned of an unsafe approach is FALSE. There is no verified evidence that the pilot issued any such warning, and the video clip used to support the claim has been identified as misleading or fabricated. The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary findings indicate that the aircraft landed within acceptable limits, and there is no indication that the pilot raised concerns about the approach before the incident.

This case highlights the importance of verifying sources and cross-referencing information before accepting and sharing potentially misleading content. While the incident itself raises legitimate questions about aviation safety, the specific claim about the pilot’s warning lacks factual basis and should be treated as a misinformed or deliberately misleading narrative.

Counter-misinformation & disinformation investigation conducted by PolicyWire Editorial Desk (PW).