Amazon announced on Sunday, September 13, that it had suspended its commercial agreement with 21 Air following the tragic accident at Miami International Airport. Company spokesperson Kelly Nantel explained that the decision was made after reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident, while the company cooperates with the official investigation.
“We have decided to pause our operations with 21 Air, the operator of Flight 7598. We will continue working to support the investigation and everyone affected,” Nantel stated.
The North Carolina-based airline had been transporting packages for Amazon since 2024 and operated approximately eight Boeing 767 freighters on behalf of the company, which maintains its own fleet of over 100 cargo aircraft.
Additionally, Amazon indicated that it would reassign shipments previously handled by 21 Air to its other partner carriers, including Sun Country Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Air Transport International, ABX Air, ASL Airlines, and Cargojet. The suspension comes during a period of high demand, as the e-commerce platform typically sees spikes in shipping volume leading up to its sales events.
A 32-year-old Boeing 767-300 transporting packages for the Amazon Air brand veered off the runway upon landing at Miami Airport on September 6 and struck a van carrying workers from an aircraft cleaning company.
The five fatalities—all occupants of the van—were identified as Yoel Rodríguez Naranjo, 53; Rolando Alemán León, 55; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47. Five other occupants were injured. Flight 7598, operated by 21 Air, was arriving from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was the crew’s third leg of the day; they had previously flown from Cincinnati to Miami and from Miami to San Juan.
The aircraft crossed the threshold of Runway 30 at excessive speed, traveled approximately 396 meters (1,300 feet) beyond the end of the runway, and struck two vehicles before coming to a stop.
The aircraft involved was originally built to carry passengers and flew for various airlines in different countries for more than two decades. According to the flight-tracking platform Flightradar24, the aircraft was in commercial passenger service between 1994 and 2015, when it was converted into a freighter. At the time of the accident, it was 32 years old.
The NTSB plans to examine the aircraft’s ownership history, weather conditions at the airport during the landing, maintenance records, and 21 Air’s operating procedures. The full transcript of the cockpit recording will not be released until a later stage of the investigation.
