A Sept. 6 accident in which an Amazon cargo plane overran a runway at Miami International Airport and struck several vehicles before bursting into flames has caused the death of five people and injuries with different degrees of severity to five more.
Rescue teams had to pull out several people from their vehicles as the pilot and co-pilot remained trapped in the plane; it has not currently been confirmed whether the pilot and co-pilot were among those killed in the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of experts to probe the site of the crash and determine the causes, including whether the plane touched down too late to be within the right landing zone. The accident also caused widespread delays and cancelations at Miami International on Sunday night and into Monday, Sept. 7 following a ground stop that was lifted at approximately 5 p.m. on Sept. 6.
American Airlines waives flight change fees amid Miami delays
According to FlightAware tracking data, there were 153 cancelations and 65 delays as of Monday morning. Southwest Airlines and Lufthansa had 100% of their flights taking off on Sept. 7 delayed.
American Airlines, which runs its primary hub to Latin America and The Caribbean from the airport, has waived flight change fees for passengers traveling into or out of Miami up until Sept. 8.
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Those whose fare class would otherwise not allow for free changes and cancelations are able to change their ticket to another date within one year of purchase or rebook a flight to a number of other airports in Florida including Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Key West or Tampa.
Any changes need to be completed through one’s booking by the end of Sept. 8. While the cancelation fee itself is waived, travelers may have to pay the fare difference if it spikes amid a larger number of others trying to take the same route.
“If your flight is impacted, we’ll reach out via email and app notifications,” the airline writes of its emergency policy.
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As flights resume, travelers urged to check flight status online
Throughout Sept. 7, operations at Miami Airport have started to resume as two of the four runways at the airport are now open. Delta Air Lines currently canceled 10% of its flights while Southwest has been at 23% cancelations and 30% delays as of 11 a.m.
As Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest travel periods of the season for the airport, the crash caused significant disruption among travelers who in some cases ended up having to spend the night on airport benches as nearby hotels quickly sold out due to the sudden influx of stranded passengers.
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“Because of aircraft and flight crews not arriving at MIA due to the cancellations yesterday, we will continue to see impacts to operations throughout the day,” Miami International Airport posted to its X account on Monday morning. “Passengers with flights scheduled today should check directly with their airline for flight status updates before heading to the airport.”
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