Amazon has halted work with cargo carrier 21 Air after a Miami airport crash killed five people, as federal investigators examine the fatal landing.
Fox Business reported that 21 Air operated the Amazon-branded freighter involved in the Sept. 6 crash at Miami International Airport. The Boeing 767 was flying as Amazon Air Flight 7598.
The aircraft overran the runway while landing and struck several vehicles on the ground. Five people died and five others suffered injuries, making the investigation a matter of public accountability as well as aviation safety.
Flight 7598 had arrived from San Juan, Puerto Rico. The aircraft was a 32-year-old Boeing 767-300 freighter operated by 21 Air for Amazon’s cargo network.
Amazon said it paused the carrier’s operations after supporting the investigation and reviewing the circumstances around the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board has not determined a probable cause.
Preliminary flight-recorder evidence showed that the pilots raised concerns about the aircraft’s speed during the landing, Fox Business reported. Recorded data showed no sign that the speed brakes or thrust reversers deployed before the plane traveled roughly 1,300 feet beyond the runway.
Speed brakes are panels that help slow an aircraft. Thrust reversers redirect engine power to help reduce speed after landing.
Those early details raise serious questions, but they do not settle the cause. The NTSB investigation remains open, and the agency has made no final finding about what caused the overrun.
Lawsuits filed in Florida accuse 21 Air, Amazon and other parties tied to the flight of negligence. The exact allegations were not disclosed, and the lawsuits do not establish fault by themselves.
Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel explained the company’s decision in a statement published by Fox Business:
“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.”
Nantel added that Amazon would keep working to support the investigation and those affected by the crash.
21 Air said it was cooperating fully with the NTSB, the Federal Aviation Administration and local authorities. The carrier also said, “We are confident in our safety policies, procedures and training.”
CEO Keith Winters said the company was “devastated.” He offered the carrier’s “deepest condolences” to the families and loved ones of those killed.
21 Air began operating Boeing 767 freighters for Amazon in 2024. Amazon’s decision now removes that carrier from its operations while investigators review what happened to Flight 7598.
The pause is a prudent step, but it is not a finding of blame. Investigators must determine whether the landing involved mechanical trouble, pilot actions, operational failures or some combination not yet known.
In 2019, an Atlas Air Boeing 767 operating for Amazon crashed in Texas. All three people aboard that aircraft died.
That earlier crash does not explain what happened in Miami. It does show why companies using outside cargo carriers cannot treat contractor oversight as a paperwork exercise.
Several basic questions remain unanswered. The identities of the five people killed and five injured were not disclosed, and the exact location of the vehicles struck remains unclear.
Amazon also did not provide the precise date when it suspended 21 Air operations. Nor have investigators announced when they expect to reach a probable-cause finding.
Families deserve facts, investigators deserve room to work, and companies entrusted with public safety must answer plainly when those facts arrive.