FLYING Magazine
The transcript of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) aboard the Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 that went off the runway at Miami International Airport (KMIA) reveals the pilots recognized the aircraft was too fast on the approach.
On Wednesday the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released information gleaned from the last few minutes of the CVR and flight data recorder (FDR) of 21 Air Flight 7598. Video of the event shows the aircraft landing long and going off the departure end of the runway. The jet struck a van driving on an airport perimeter road, killing five of the seven people inside, collided with navigational equipment, and went through two fences and struck an SUV before coming to a stop in a parking lot and catching fire.
The CVR and FDR were retrieved from the aircraft and taken to the NTSB laboratory for analysis.
The CVR contained more than two hours of good-quality audio across four channels. The FDR contained approximately 54 hours of recorded data. The NTSB released a summary of the last 6:02 minutes of the CVR and the last 30 seconds of the FDR.
The NTSB stressed that the information culled from the CVR and FDR is preliminary and subject to change.
According to the NTSB, the captain of the aircraft, age 55, had 7,145 flight hours and had received his 767 type rating in May of this year. The first officer, age 37, had 2,665 hours, and received his 767 type rating in 2025.
The NTSB has not said which pilot was flying at the time of the accident, and which one was pilot monitoring.
CVR Timeline
06:02: A pilot called for the flaps to be set to 1 degree.
04:18: The flight crew checked in with Miami tower and were cleared to land on runway 30.
02:53: A pilot called for flaps to be set to 5 degrees.
02:37: The flight crew lowered the landing gear.
02:14: A pilot called for the flaps to be set at 15 degrees.
01:42: A pilot called for flaps to be set to 20 degrees. The other pilot cautions that they were too fast. Per the NTSB, “The other pilot made additional comments regarding the aircraft’s excessive speed throughout the remainder of the recording. There was not a consistent verbal response to the comments about speed.”
01:23: Sounds consistent with autopilot disconnect.
01:12: Electronic “one thousand” callout.
01:04: Electronic “sink rate sink rate” callout.
00:58: Electronic “five hundred” callout.
00:57: Electronic “sink rate sink rate” callout.
00:54: Electronic “one hundred” callout.
00:50: Electronic “minimums” callout.
00:48: Electronic “two low terrain” callout four times.
00:41: A pilot called for flaps to be set to 30 degrees
00:40: Electronic “forty” callout.
00:39: Electronic “too low terrain” callout.
00:36: Electronic “ten” callout.
00:31: Sounds similar to the aircraft touching down.
00:15: A pilot calls for a go around.
00:10: Sounds similar to the aircraft departing the paved surface.
00:00: CVR recording ends.
The FDR
The last 30 seconds of the FDR is referenced relative to the end of the FDR recording. The CVR and FDR times have not been precisely synchronized.
00:30: The nose and right main landing gear of the aircraft touch down at a ground speed of 158 knots.
00:23: The brakes were applied at a groundspeed of 146 knots.
00:19: The left main gear touches down at a ground speed of 134 knots.
00:15: The brakes were released at a groundspeed of 120 knots and the throttles were increased to a value consistent with go-around thrust.
00:11: The throttles were reduced to idle power and the brakes reapplied. The ground speed was 117 knots. The throttles remained at idle and the brakes remained applied until the end of the recording.
00:07: Recorded lateral, longitudinal, and vertical acceleration values changed markedly; the FDR data indicated a groundspeed of 96 knots.
00:00: The FDR recording ends. The final groundspeed was 65 knots. There was no indication in the recorded data that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed.
The NTSB investigation is still in the preliminary stages. A full transcript of the CVR will be created by the NTSB at a later date.