Amazon ‘pauses operations’ with cargo airline after fatal Miami plane crash

Amazon has suspended its partnership with 21 Air, which it used to transport packages, after the cargo airline crashed on landing at Miami International Airport earlier this month, killing five people.

Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel told Global News that “safety has always been our top priority, whether in our own operations or when we’re working with partners.”

“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,” she said.

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The decision should not impact Amazon customers, the statement also noted.

The Boeing 767 was being operated by two 21 Air pilots when it overran the runway and careened into two vehicles before ripping through a fence and screeching to a halt with its nose in a patch of grass. Five people were killed, and five others were injured.

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The five people killed in the crash were inside a Ford van used to transport aircraft cleaning crews. All of them were employees of Ocean Service Corp., an airline cleaning contractor.

21 Air was operating Flight 7598 on behalf of Amazon Air — which uses several cargo airlines to transport goods on its behalf — and has not commented on Amazon’s decision to temporarily cut ties.

Its CEO Keith Winters said in a statement shortly after the crash that the company’s immediate priorities were “supporting those affected, assisting the appropriate authorities, and ensuring that accurate and verified information is communicated as it becomes available.”

Winters said the airline was “cooperating fully” with the the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration and local authorities as they investigate the incident.

According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating the crash, one of the pilots warned of “excessive speed” on several occasions as the aircraft made its landing approach.

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Data recordings recovered by the regulatory body also suggest that the pilots made a last-ditch effort to abort the landing but did not go through with the go-around procedure. The plane was travelling at 248 kilometres per hour when it touched down, the safety board report says.

Seconds after touchdown, the brakes were momentarily released and the throttle applied in a manner conducive to a go-around. Moments later, the throttle was reduced, and the brakes were reapplied, the data says.

A go-around is a routine maneuver in which the pilot stops a landing attempt by powering up the engines and climbing back into the sky.

The captain is 55 and has 7,145 hours of flight time. The first officer is 37 and has 2,655 hours, the NTSB said.

The cockpit voice recorder was also recovered and has been transported to a lab in Washington, D.C., for analysis.

NTSB investigators planned to interview the pilot and co-pilot on Wednesday as they try to determine what caused the fatal collision. The NTSB has not released the results of those interviews.

The NTSB is leading the investigation into the aircraft and wreckage. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched a full investigation into the cause of the overshoot.

The Miami-Dade sheriff identified the deceased as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.