'Their jaws dropped': Traveler at MIA recalls first sign something was wrong after deadly Amazon crash

MIAMI, FLORIDA: Jenny O’Dell was checking her bags at Miami International Airport when she noticed several Delta employees and security personnel standing together with their “jaws dropped.”

Speaking exclusively to MEAWW News, O’Dell said she soon learned that an Amazon cargo plane had crashed at MIA, killing five people and injuring five others.

O’Dell, 46, of Dallas, was traveling to Austin and arrived at the airport around 2.10 pm Sunday, September 6. She did not witness the crash or see the aircraft, but was among the passengers left stranded as the deadly crash triggered a major disruption at the airport.

Traveler at Miami airport recalls first sign something was wrong

O’Dell said she was walking away from the Delta counter after checking her bags when she noticed about four Delta employees and security personnel standing together.

“They appeared extremely concerned,” O’Dell said, adding that their reaction immediately caught her attention. “I didn’t know what had happened yet, but their expressions told me something was very wrong,” she told MEAWW News.

At that point, O’Dell had not heard an announcement explaining what was happening, and there was no change showing on her Delta flight status.

She and her companions then went through security and returned to the Delta gate area. O’Dell believed they were in the southeast section of the terminal, relatively close to Runway 30. However, she did not see the plane or the crash from inside the airport.

“The first thing I noticed was the reaction of the Delta employees near the ticket counter,” O’Dell said. She recalled that she had no immediate information about what had happened and was trying to understand why the staff appeared so alarmed.

The first major indication that flights were being affected came around 3 pm, when O’Dell heard an announcement from United saying the airport was being shut down for both departing and arriving flights because of a security incident.

O’Dell said passengers quickly began turning to social media because they were receiving little information directly from Delta. “We started seeing reports about what had happened on social media,” she said, as travelers tried to piece together what was happening.

O'Dell mentioned that around 3.20 pm, Delta began communicating with passengers about the situation.

“Everyone was trying to figure out what happened,” O’Dell said, describing the atmosphere inside the terminal as surreal.

O’Dell said the lack of immediate information was one of the biggest things that stood out to her. At the same time, she was impressed by the way Delta employees handled the situation once communication with passengers began.

“I was extremely impressed with Delta customer service,” O’Dell said to MEAWW News, noting that employees remained helpful and patient while trying to accommodate stranded travelers.

Amazon cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport kills 5

The crash involved Prime Air Flight 7598, a Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft operated by 21 Air for Amazon Air. The plane had departed from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, before overrunning the runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday.

The aircraft crossed a nearby road and struck multiple vehicles before coming to rest and catching fire.

Five people were killed, and five others were injured, with three of the injured people in critical condition and two hospitalized with less severe injuries. Authorities initially said it was too early to determine whether those who died were aboard the aircraft or on the ground.

The crash created a complex rescue operation. The pilot and co-pilot were trapped inside the cockpit, while several people in vehicles were also trapped after the aircraft struck them.

Firefighters had to use specialized technical rescue equipment, including efforts to free a person trapped beneath a vehicle.

The Boeing 767 involved in the crash was 32 years old. It had originally been built as a passenger aircraft and flew for several airlines before being converted into a cargo plane in 2015, according to flight-tracking information cited by the Associated Press.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Miami airport crash causes flight cancellations and delays

The crash did not only affect the people at the scene. It also brought air travel at one of the country's busiest airports to a standstill for hours.

A full ground stop was issued after the crash, halting arriving and departing flights while emergency crews worked at the scene. Two of the airport's runways were later reopened, but significant delays continued into Sunday night.

Their Delta flight was not officially canceled until approximately 5.15 pm. By then, long lines had formed throughout the terminal as passengers tried to rebook their flights.

Delta also provided the travelers with hotel and meal vouchers, helping them manage the unexpected overnight stay and the additional travel arrangements.

Retrieving their checked luggage proved to be another major ordeal. O’Dell said it took approximately two hours to get their bags back, and many other passengers were dealing with the same problem.

The airport disruption continued to ripple through travel plans even after the initial ground stop ended, with hundreds of canceled and delayed flights affecting passengers beyond those who had been at MIA when the crash happened.

Traveler says airport experience felt 'surreal' after deadly crash

Although O’Dell never saw the aircraft or the crash itself, the events inside the terminal gave her a firsthand view of how quickly a deadly aviation disaster can transform an ordinary travel day.

She said the most vivid part of the experience came later, when she was sitting inside the terminal and watching passengers receive bits and pieces of information through their phones.

“It was surreal,” she said to MEAWW News, describing the experience of being close enough to feel the impact of the crash without actually witnessing it.

The initial confusion was followed by a growing awareness of the scale of the tragedy. Passengers who had first been focused on flight cancellations and delays began realizing that the airport disruption was connected to a crash that had claimed lives.

For O’Dell, that realization changed the way she viewed her own travel problems. “We were just trying to get home, while other families were dealing with something far more devastating.”

MEAWW contacted Miami International Airport for comment regarding the plane crash and passenger-communication timeline but did not receive an immediate response.