Online retailer Amazon has suspended operations with cargo carrier 21 Air following last week's crash of an Amazon-branded plane at Miami International Airport that killed five people, the company said Sept. 13.
"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 told USA TODAY in a statement. "We'll continue working to support the investigation and everyone affected."
The company's decision comes as federal investigators examine the circumstances surrounding the incident. An Amazon Prime Air cargo flight, a Boeing 767-33A operated by 21 Air,
crashed after overrunning a runway while landing at the Miami International Airport on Sept. 6.
The aircraft struck two vehicles on the ground, killing five people and injuring five others.
Federal investigators have not determined the cause of the crash. But preliminary findings released by the National Transportation Safety Board have raised questions about the aircraft's speed during its approach and the flight crew's handling of the landing.
What happened in the deadly Amazon plane crash?
The incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. local time on Sept. 6. The Amazon Air Flight 7598 arrived from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and overran the runway, leaving a crash path of 1,300 feet beyond the paved runway in a scene described as "utter devastation" by NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.
The aircraft, a 32-year-old freighter, was on its third flight of the day, according to investigators. It had flown from Cincinnati to Miami, and from Miami to San Juan, earlier on Sept. 6 before the crash.
Five people were killed, all occupants of two vehicles on the ground, a van owned by a contract cleaning company for airlines and another vehicle, investigators said. Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said five others were taken to hospitals, including two pilots on board the plane who were treated and were later released.
Following the incident, the wife of one of the victims filed a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging the crash resulted from failures involving the two pilots aboard, aircraft operators and others connected to the flight. The lawsuit, filed Sept. 9 in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, alleges pilot error, inadequate training and the deployment of a 32-year-old aircraft whose systems are under investigation.
NTSB investigating fatal plane crash
Preliminary information released by the NTSB indicates one of the pilots repeatedly commented about the aircraft's excessive speed during the final one 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 system issued several "too low, terrain" warnings before the plane touched down.
Fifteen seconds before the cockpit voice recording ended, one of the pilots called for aborting the landing and "throttles were increased to a value consistent with go-around thrust," according to the NTSB. But four seconds later the throttles were pulled back to idle, and the recorder caught sounds similar to the plane departing the paved runway surface.
The agency previously said there was no indication in the recorded data that speed brakes or thrust reversers were deployed to help slow the aircraft. The NTSB's investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amazon halts operations with 21 Air after Miami cargo plane crash
