A woman whose husband was killed in Sunday’s cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Amazon, cargo airline 21 Air, the plane’s lessors and the two pilots manning the aircraft.
Yaraisi Santiso Morejon filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Miami-Dade County, alleging multiple failures contributed to the death of her husband, 53-year-old Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo. Rodriguez was one of five people killed when Amazon Air Flight 7598 overshot the runway and crashed into a van carrying a cleaning crew that was finishing its last job before returning home.
“This is a very hardworking family that came here from Cuba in 2011. They worked multiple jobs, really established themselves within the community, and they’re a really strong family,” said attorney Jorge Garcia of Morgan & Morgan, the firm filing the suit on Santiso’s behalf.
Garcia said Rodriguez died upon impact. He is survived by his wife and their 22-year-old son, Ronaldo. Attorneys said Amazon has not contacted the family.
The company pointed JS to a Tuesday statement by spokesperson Kelly Nantel expressing condolences to the victims’ loved ones and saying Amazon plans to fully cooperate with all investigations into the incident.
“We felt it was important, based off the information that was available at this time about what we believe is a very preventable tragedy, to file the lawsuit now in order to preserve the rights of the estate of Mr. Rodriguez, as well as to be able to preserve any evidence that will come along the way during this NTSB investigation,” attorney Mike Morgan said.
Handout by Morgan & Morgan
The other victims are 55-year-old Rolando Aleman Leon; 75-year-old Julio C. Pineda; 53-year-old Carlos Acosta Fajardo; and 47-year-old Javierkys Reyes Quevedo. National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy described the scene as “utter devastation” and the van as “torn apart.”
The Boeing 767-300’s crash ignited a fire and seriously injured five others, including the two pilots, who have since been released from the hospital. Speaking to reporters, Garcia and Morgan questioned the training and competence of captain Joseph Carroll and co-pilot Jaime Felipe Silva Molina.
“What we’ve heard from the cockpit so far sounds like a lot of confusion,” Morgan said. “This morning, we learned that the thrusters were fully engaged 15 seconds before impact, and so what that tells us is there was not a lot of cohesive strategy, and there was no emergency declared, and it leaves a lot of questions about what was going on in the cockpit.”
The NTSB launched its probe this week into the crash, with investigators Tuesday inspecting the plane. Attorneys said plane operator 21 Air has previously faced a series of safety complaints from senior employees, and that Amazon either knew or should have reasonably known about such safety deficiencies.
“This disaster was not an unavoidable accident. It was the foreseeable and preventable result of multiple, concurrent failures,” the lawsuit states. “Pilot error by [Carroll and Molina] in attempting a high-speed, tailwind-affected landing while failing to execute a mandatory go-around; a systemic failure by Defendants Amazon and 21 Air to ensure adequate pilot training, fitness and sound aeronautical decision-making; the deployment of a 32-year-old aircraft by all pertinent Defendants whose braking, thrust reverser, and spoiler systems are under active NTSB investigation.
“Each of these failures, standing alone, was sufficient to cause death,” the suit continued. “Together, they were catastrophic.”