By Rajwa Quasim
Amazon announced Sunday that the company has suspended its partnership with 21 Air after a Boeing 767-300 freighter operating for the Amazon Air network crashed at Miami International Airport last week, killing five people.
The incident happened on Sept. 6, when the freight carrier came in too fast while landing and overran the runway by roughly 1,300 feet before slamming into a van carrying workers from an airplane cleaning company. The five people killed were in the van. The plane struck two vehicles before coming to a stop and catching fire. The pilots survived the crash, and five others were injured.
Amazon said the company would continue supporting the investigation. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said, “After the tragic incident last weekend, we’ve spent time supporting the investigation and reviewing some of the surrounding circumstances, and we’ve decided to pause our operations with 21 Air, the operator of Flight 7598.”
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the federal body investigating the incident, said the pilots of the 21 Air cargo plane realized too late that the aircraft was flying “too fast”. One of the pilots warned about this a minute before landing. Several automated warnings were also designed to alert the pilots.
Flight data shows that the plane’s nose landing gear and right main landing gear touched down on the runway at a speed of 158 knots (181 mph), while the left main landing gear touched down at a speed of 134 knots.
According to the flight data recorder, 15 seconds after landing, one pilot called for the landing to be aborted, and the engines’ throttles increased for takeoff in an attempt to get the plane back in the air. However, the aircraft was already close to the end of the runway at a speed of 120 knots (138 mph). The pilots therefore reduced engine power and reapplied the brakes four seconds later.
The NTSB said it found no evidence of the plane using speed brakes or thrust reversers, causing the plane to overrun the runway. Investigators have not yet released the full cockpit transcript.
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21 Air said in a statement to Reuters, “We remain focused on supporting the families and loved ones who were impacted by this accident, as well as working closely with the NTSB and all our partners, like Amazon, as the investigation continues. We are confident in our safety policies, procedures and training.”
According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the aircraft involved in the crash is 32 years old. It was originally built as a passenger carrier and flew for several international airlines for more than 20 years. It was converted into a cargo plane in 2015 and has been carrying packages for Amazon since 2024.
The plane was flying from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami and was carrying about 32,000 pounds of cargo, mostly contact lenses, according to NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy.