Miami plane crash diverts flyers to Fort Myers, forces tough choices

LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK)—New York. Cancún. Toronto. People from all over the world found themselves in Lee County on Sunday night after a deadly plane crash diverted hundreds of passengers to Southwest Florida. 

An Amazon cargo plane overshot the runway at Miami International Airport (MIA), killing at least five people on Sunday. Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) said some flights were diverted to Fort Myers as first responders investigate what happened. 

Many of those flights were from American Airlines. Miami is one of airlines nine hubs. American accounts for more than 60% of the traffic at the airport, according to the company. 

An American Airlines employee at the ticket counter said that at least 47 flights were diverted to RSW on Sunday. 

Many flyers faced tough choices. Luis Silva and his wife arrived at RSW after celebrating their 22nd anniversary in Cancún, Mexico. 

The couple live in Milwaukee and were supposed to fly through Miami. Instead, they sat on the tarmac at RSW. Silva said American Airlines told him the next available flight from RSW is Tuesday. They decided to rent a car and drive home on Sunday night. 

"Do we rent a hotel and then food? And wait for the day to come? And then that might not even happen with so many flights being diverted," Silva said. "Maybe that gets canceled too So we're just gonna get a car and just start driving, even though it's over 20 hours."

Herbert Fuentes and his wife are flying home to New York with their two special needs children. Fuentes said his flight from Mexico was re-directed to Fort Myers. Now, the family is scrambling to find a way back home. 

"We have children with special needs, so the whole flight experience is hard enough as it is," Fuentes said. "And this has just been a big inconvenience both ways."

WINK News reached out to American Airlines for more information, but did not immediately hear back. An employee at the ticket counter said it's been an overwhelming day, and they are trying to do the best they can.