The Miami-Dade County Aviation and Seaport Committee met on September 8, 2026, with Chairwoman Danielle Cohen Higgins presiding and Vice Chairman Roberto J. Gonzalez and Commissioners Oliver G. Gilbert III, Keon Hardeman, and Natalie Milian Orbis present. The meeting opened with an invocation, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a public comment period in which no one spoke. The principal focus was an operational briefing on the September 6, 2026 crash of an Amazon Air cargo flight at Miami International Airport, followed by routine procurement approvals and reports.
The committee heard a special briefing from the Miami International Airport Director on the September 6, 2026 crash of an Amazon Air Boeing 767 cargo aircraft, operated by 21 Air, on Runway 12/30 at about 2 p.m. The director reported 10 casualties: five deaths, three people transported in critical condition to Ryder Trauma, and the pilot and co-pilot treated at Jackson West and reportedly in good condition. There were more than 211 cancellations on Sunday and about 183 the following day. Two runways (12/30 and 8 Right) remained closed while the NTSB investigated; two runways (8 Left and 9/27) were operating, giving the airport about half capacity. The crash damaged roughly 370 linear feet of perimeter fence and struck a passenger van and a civilian vehicle outside the fence line. About 2,300 gallons of fuel were drained from the aircraft wings as evidence, environmental assessments began, and the flight data recorder was removed to Washington, D.C. The fire department was on scene in about 30 seconds with more than 60 units, well within the FAA's three-minute response requirement, and Commissioner Milian Orbis noted more than 200 emergency responders were on scene.
The director said MIA passes annual FAA Part 319A safety inspections and all four runways have the required 1,000-foot runway safety area. He said FAA rules treat engineered material arresting systems (EMAS) as an alternative solution only for airports that cannot provide the 1,000-foot safety area, not as a complementary system, and that his research showed no U.S. airport with the 1,000-foot safety area has EMAS. He said the county would consider NTSB recommendations and would prepare a cost estimate.
Commissioner Oliver G. Gilbert III said he wants MIA to pursue EMAS as a voluntary redundancy even if the NTSB does not recommend it, as long as the runway safety area is not reduced, because five lives were lost and going beyond federal minimums is justified. He also raised concern about public messaging after the crash, saying the County Mayor should be the public face of the county's response and calling for clear protocols. Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis commended the first responders and asked the director to bring a future committee report on the cost and any runway modifications needed for EMAS. Commissioner Keon Hardeman cautioned that media coverage implied the airport was at fault, said MIA is safe, and asked whether EMAS could be a diminishing return or might not have prevented this accident. Vice Chairman Roberto J. Gonzalez supported exploring safety features beyond FAA requirements and praised the response. Chairwoman Cohen Higgins expressed condolences, agreed that the county should present a unified public front, and said the response involved many moving parts. A Deputy Mayor noted that the county charter already makes the Mayor the head of the county for emergency management and said an MOU could memorialize those protocols.
The meeting was adjourned after the committee found no further unfinished business.
Commissioner Gilbert. Commissioner Hardaman. Commissioner Milian Orbis. Vice Chairman Gonzalez. Chairwoman Cohen Heguns. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Port Miami and our Seaport Committee. We are going to have an invocation led by Commissioner Gonzalez, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Commissioner Milian Orbis. Please bow your heads. Dear Lord, thank you for this wonderful day that you've given us. Thank you for our families. Thank you for all the residents of Miami Dade County. Lord, please guide us in every decision we make and everything that we do. Let it be for your will and your glory and your holy name we pray. Amen. Good morning to the attorneys. I don't have any public hearing items on our agenda. And so at this time, I will open the reasonable opportunity for the public to be heard. I don't have any speaker cards. Reasonable opportunity for the public to be heard is now open. Now is your opportunity to approach the podium on any items on this morning's agenda. Seeing no one approaching reasonable opportunity for the public to be heard is now closed to the attorneys. Any additions, edits, or changes to this morning's agenda? Good morning, Madam Chair. Yes, I do have a couple of preliminary announcements. Item 3D was added to your agenda, but the administration has since withdrawn that item. So that item has been removed from your agenda today. Is that 3B or 3? 3D as in Delta. 3D is in Delta. Okay. In addition, the administration is respectfully requesting the advancement of item 3B as in Bravo to the October 6th BCC meeting. Otherwise, a motion to set your agenda is in order. I'll entertain a motion. It's been moved. It's been second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Anyone wish to be recorded? No. This morning's agenda is set. Before we take up any bifurcations or discussions on this morning specific agenda items, I would like for our Miami International Airport Director to approach. Yes. I'm sorry. If I if it's appropriate, could we take a moment of silence for those whose whose lives were lost this this uh weekend, uh, this Labor Day weekend and the in the airplane crash. Yeah, I think that's absolutely appropriate. Uh, Commissioner Milian Orbis. Um, so if you would like for us to stand, or would you would you like for us to leave the power a few moments of silence? Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for that, Commissioner Milian Orbis, and uh I was having our director uh approach because I I want to have a conversation with our director and and take things a little bit out of order. Um as a result of the tragedy that occurred um this weekend that I know everybody is very familiar with from the perspective of hearing from the press, and maybe some of us were briefed, some of us maybe were not.