Runway overrun at Miami prompts renewed focus on go-arounds

A cargo jet operating for Amazon Prime Air ran off the end of Runway 30 at Miami International Airport and struck a van and an SUV before coming to rest in a parking lot, where it caught fire. Along the way it crossed ground-based navigation aids and two fences. Multiple people were killed and others seriously injured, according to an account of the event.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still gathering information. It has not released the required landing distance for the aircraft, since that figure forms part of the investigation into how the crew managed the flight. The runway is 9,360 feet long with a published available landing distance of 7,913 feet.

Video of the jet shows it floating over the runway at too high a speed for landing, the source states. Excess airspeed on final approach causes an aircraft to float and consumes runway. That is why pilots compute performance numbers before each flight. The numbers shift with aircraft weight and weather conditions, and every pilot is expected to be briefed on them.

Why a go-around was not flown is a common question after runway overruns, the source notes. Accidents of this kind tend to move through the training community, and the source expects this one to be used as a teaching case from private pilot ground school through airline pilot training.