Sheriff identifies the 5 victims killed on the ground in MIA cargo plane crash

Douglas Hanks and David Goodhue, Miami Herald on Sep 8, 2026

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MIAMI — The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday identified the five people who died when an Amazon cargo plane crashed through a runway at Miami International Airport two days earlier.

The jet operated by 21 Air overshot a runway at MIA and crashed into a passenger van carrying seven people working for a cleaning company at the airport, then into a Toyota Corolla Cross. Five of the people in the van, ranging in age from late 40s to early 70s, died, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said Tuesday.

Those who died include Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevado, 47, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

“It’s an incredibly tragic incident that has occurred,” Cordero-Stutz told reporters at the Sheriff’s Office’s Doral headquarters. “One leaves their house to go to work, to visit family, to do what we normally do, without thinking that is even a possibility.”

Cordero-Stutz said the pilot and co-pilot on the jet were released from the hospital.

Joseph Carroll, 55, and Jaime Filipe Silva Molina, 37, were the pilots, the Miami Herald learned after matching the names released by the Sheriff’s Office with the Federal Aviation Administration’s pilot database.

Carroll is listed as a pilot and captain for 21 Air, a cargo carrier that Amazon uses to fly its packages and that was operating the plane Sunday. According to his FAA profile, he is qualified to fly a variety of aircraft, from multi-engine jets to helicopters.

Silva Molina’s LinkedIn profile lists him as a first officer with 21 Air. The profile said he received a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering in Colombia, and he flies domestic and international flights for 21 Air.

Two passengers from the van who survived remain in the hospital, the sheriff said, along with another person who was injured on the ground when the plane crashed.

The Sheriff’s Office identified others who were injured in the crash as 79-year-old Eugenio Corredor and 32-year-old Ridoel Averhoff Diaz and 36-year-old Roosevelt Sebastian Perdomo Torres. Corredor and Diaz are both in critical condition. Torres is in stable condition.