Witness describes “surreal” moment Amazon plane crashed at Miami International Airport: “Something from a movie”

Updated on: September 7, 2026 / 11:32 AM EDT / CBS Miami

Federal investigators have descended upon South Florida to try to determine what led to a deadly incident at Miami International Airport involving an Amazon cargo plane on Sunday afternoon.

Witnesses are now starting to share their experience of what they saw and heard when the plane overshot the runway, crashed and burst into flames.

Grace Mercado said she was in a vehicle being driven by her partner when he made a chilling statement.

"We hear a noise," she said. "And he goes, 'Oh my goodness. Is that a plane crash?'"

Mercado said she looked up from her cellphone to see what he was talking about, and that's when she saw the Amazon cargo plane had overshot the runway, plowed across the Miami-Dade street and came to a stop.

"It was extremely loud," she said. "It wasn't anything that I've ever heard before. It was like a shake. Honestly, I can't compare it to anything else."

Mercado said she was disoriented trying to make sense of what she had just seen.

"The plane was up in smoke," she said. "It was just, it was like something from a movie.

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/