FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A deadly runway overrun at Miami International Airport is prompting Broward County aviation officials to revisit a safety concern Local 10 News first investigated in 2025 about rail tank cars staged near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

On Sept. 6, a 21 Air Boeing 767 cargo plane overran the runway while landing at MIA, killing five people and injuring five others. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what happened.

The accident has renewed attention on what can happen when an aircraft leaves the paved runway environment.

In April 2025, Local 10 News Investigates reported on dozens of Florida East Coast Railway tank cars parked along tracks near FLL, close to the airport’s runway.

Some of the cars were marked with UN1987 hazardous-material placards, identifying flammable liquids.

At the time, aviation safety experts questioned whether staging potentially hazardous rail cars so close to an active runway created an unnecessary risk in the event of a runway excursion.

One expert interviewed by Local 10 called the location “the worst possible place to store those train cars.”

Local 10 also reported that airport officials had previously expressed concerns about the rail cars to FEC.

After our investigation aired, Broward County Aviation Department officials said they contacted FEC about the issue.

FEC did not indicate that it planned to change its practice of staging the rail cars near the airport.

Now, more than a year later, the county says the situation is being revisited.

In response to questions from Local 10 following the MIA crash, BCAD spokesperson Arlene Satchell said the department “does intend to contact the FEC to revisit the subject of its parked railcars near FLL.”

The county says it wants to determine whether FEC is considering any changes to its current staging practices following the MIA accident and whether the two sides can explore options to move the cars elsewhere or at least farther from the immediate vicinity of the airport’s runway.

“Maintaining a safe and secure airport is always a top priority,” the county said.

There is also a new wrinkle in the county’s response.

BCAD says that during the past year there have been no emails, letters or other formal communications between the Aviation Department and FEC about the railcars.

The county says there have only been informal exchanges.

BCAD said that following Local 10’s May 2025 follow-up report, an FEC representative indicated there were no upcoming changes to the company’s protocol for staging railcars near FLL.

Now, following the deadly MIA runway overrun, BCAD says it intends to reopen that conversation.

FLL does have EMAS

FLL does have an additional runway safety feature that MIA’s recent accident has brought into focus.

The airport has engineered materials arresting systems, or EMAS, at the ends of its runways.

The Federal Aviation Administration describes EMAS as a system installed beyond the end of a runway that is designed to absorb the energy of an aircraft that overruns the runway. The crushable material slows the aircraft and, when properly designed and constructed, can bring the aircraft to a stop in less space than a traditional runway safety area.

FAA documents for FLL specifically identify EMAS at the runway ends.

But EMAS does not eliminate every possible hazard beyond a runway.

As Local 10 reported in 2025, the concern surrounding the FEC railcars involves what could happen if an aircraft were to leave the runway environment and encounter the rail line or the tank cars.

That is a potential scenario — not something that has happened at FLL.

And there is no indication that the FEC railcars have violated federal regulations.

In fact, the Federal Railroad Administration previously told Local 10 that it had no indication FEC was violating rail safety regulations.

The question now is whether, in light of what happened at MIA, the location of those railcars deserves another look.

Broward County says it plans to ask FEC.

Local 10 also reached out to FEC for comment and asked whether the company plans to reconsider its staging practices. FEC has not yet responded.

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