Amazon suspends use of 21 Air, cargo carrier whose plane careened off Miami runway

MIAMI (AP) — Amazon said Sunday that it has suspended its partnership with 21 Air after one of the cargo carrier’s planes loaded with Amazon packages careened off a Miami runway last week and killed five people.

The Boeing 767 came in fast on Sept. 6 and then barreled roughly 1,300 feet (396 meters) past the end of the runway and smashed into a van carrying workers at a plane cleaning company. All five people who died were in the van. Five others were hurt.

“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,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said a statement. “We’ll continue working to support the investigation and everyone affected.”

North Carolina-based 21 had flown packages for Amazon since 2024. The company didn’t immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment about Amazon’s decision.

The jet’s ownership history, weather conditions at the airport, maintenance records and operations by 21 Air were expected to be reviewed by investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Flight information released by the NTSB on Sept. 9 revealed one of the pilots warned his counterpart they were going too fast as they approached for landing and after touchdown.

The cockpit audio recordings also captured a series of automated warnings from the plane about the speed of descent and the approaching terrain. The full transcript of the cockpit conversation won’t be released until later in the investigation.

The 32-year-old Boeing was originally built to carry passengers and flew for several airlines in foreign countries for more than two decades before being converted to a cargo plane in 2015, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.