Amazon Suspends 21 Air Cargo Flights After Fatal Miami Runway Crash
Amazon is suspending its cargo operations with 21 Air after a Prime Air Boeing 767 operated by the contractor overran a runway at Miami International Airport earlier this month, killing five people on the ground.
The online retailer said Sept. 13 that it had decided to pause work with 21 Air, the operator of Flight 7598, as federal investigators continue to examine the Sept. 6, 2026, crash. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement to USA TODAY that the company had spent the days after the “tragic incident” supporting the investigation and reviewing surrounding circumstances.
“We’ve decided to pause our operations with 21 Air, the operator of Flight 7598,” Nantel said. “We’ll continue working to support the investigation and everyone affected.”
The crash involved an Amazon Prime Air cargo flight—a Boeing 767-33A—that landed at Miami International Airport after arriving from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The aircraft overran the runway shortly before 2 p.m. local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The jet struck two vehicles on the ground: a van owned by a contract cleaning company for airlines and another vehicle, investigators said. Five people were killed, all of them occupants of the two vehicles. Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said five others were taken to hospitals, including the two pilots aboard the plane. Both pilots were treated and later released.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not determined a cause. But preliminary findings released by the agency have raised questions about the aircraft’s speed on approach and the flight crew’s handling of the landing.
Investigators said the aircraft left a crash path about 1,300 feet beyond the paved runway, a scene NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy described as “utter devastation.” The plane, a 32-year-old freighter, was on its third flight of the day, according to investigators. It had flown from Cincinnati to Miami and then from Miami to San Juan before the fatal return leg.
Preliminary information from the NTSB indicates one of the pilots repeatedly commented about the aircraft’s excessive speed during the final minute and 42 seconds of the cockpit voice recording. Investigators said there was not a consistent verbal response to those remarks.
The agency also said the aircraft’s systems issued several “too low, terrain” warnings before touchdown.
Fifteen seconds before the cockpit voice recording ended, one pilot called for aborting the landing and “throttles were increased to a value consistent with go-around thrust,” the NTSB said. Four seconds later, however, the throttles were pulled back to idle. The recorder then captured sounds similar to the plane leaving the paved runway surface.
The NTSB previously said recorded data showed no indication that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed to help slow the aircraft. The investigation remains ongoing.
After the crash, the wife of one victim filed a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that the incident resulted from failures involving the two pilots, aircraft operators and others connected to the flight. The suit, filed Sept. 9 in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, cites pilot error, inadequate training and the use of a 32-year-old aircraft whose systems are under investigation.
The suspension adds pressure to Amazon’s air logistics network, which relies heavily on contracted cargo carriers to move packages quickly. It also puts renewed attention on contractor safety practices and the role of older freighters in high-frequency e-commerce operations as the NTSB continues its probe.
Contributing: Reuters