One week after a deadly cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport left five people dead and five more injured, e-commerce behemoth Amazon has announced it will pause all operational partnerships with 21 Air, the aviation firm that operated the Boeing 767-300 jet involved in the incident. A company spokesperson confirmed the decision in a statement Sunday, noting that the move came after a preliminary review of circumstances surrounding the tragedy and ongoing coordination with official investigators.
The September 6 crash unfolded when the cargo plane, which had departed from Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport bound for Miami, overshot the runway during landing. The jet smashed into several civilian vehicles on surrounding roads before coming to a stop, leaving a scene that National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy described as “utter devastation”. Last week, local authorities released the identities of the five victims: Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
Early investigative updates from the NTSB, which is leading the probe into the crash, have revealed key preliminary findings. One of the two pilots on board flagged multiple times that the aircraft was traveling at excessive speed as it approached the runway, according to the agency. Multiple safety alerts, including an altitude alarm and other electronic landing warnings, activated during the final approach, but investigators noted that the second pilot did not provide a consistent verbal response to the speed warnings. Investigators have already recovered the plane’s flight data and voice recorders to conduct deeper analysis of the factors that led to the accident.
21 Air, an all-cargo air carrier that contracts its services to global logistics giants including Amazon and DHL, has publicly expressed grief over the tragedy. In a previous statement, the company’s CEO Keith Winters said the firm was “devastated by the accident”, extended deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, and confirmed that the company was fully cooperating with NTSB investigators to clarify the root cause of the crash. The BBC has reached out to 21 Air for additional comment on Amazon’s decision to pause their partnership, and no further statement has been released from the carrier as of press time.
In Amazon’s official announcement, the company emphasized that safety has remained its non-negotiable top priority across all of its internal operations and third-party partnerships. “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 spokesperson said, adding that Amazon will continue to support the ongoing investigation and all parties impacted by the crash.