An airline cleaning company was mourning the loss of five employees who were identified as those killed Sunday when an Amazon-branded cargo plane overran the runway at Miami International Airport, striking the company’s van and a passenger SUV.
The deceased were Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said in a news conference Tuesday. They were all in the van, owned by Professional Ocean Service Corp., a contract cleaning company for airline companies.
Five other people were injured and taken to the hospital, officials said. Eugenio Corredor, 79, and Ridoel Averhoff Diaz, 32, remain in critical condition, and Roosevelt Sebastian Perdomo Torres, 36, is stable.
The two pilots of the Boeing 767-300 aircraft, Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37, and Joseph Carol, 55, were treated and released.
In a news conference Tuesday night, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Carol, the captain, had 7,145 hours of flight experience, according to his March 31 medical. Silva Molina, the first officer, had logged 2,655 hours as of his Aug. 13 medical, Homendy said.
Carol was rated to fly the type of aircraft involved in the crash in May, and Silva Molina was rated to fly it in April 2025, she said. Both will be interviewed by investigators on Wednesday, Homendy added.
She said the plane was carrying more than 32,000 pounds of cargo, mostly contact lenses, when it crashed.
An Amazon spokesperson previously said that the flight was operated by 21 Air. Keith Winters, 21 Air’s CEO, said in a message on its website that it is cooperating with federal investigators and offered condolences to the victims’ families.
The aircraft was on its third trip Sunday when it overran the runway during a landing, Homendy said Monday. Earlier that day, the plane traveled from Cincinnati to Miami, and then Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
It was returning from San Juan when it crashed.
Homendy said that upon landing back in Miami, the plane overran the runway and struck navigational aids and equipment before hitting the cleaning company’s Ford van, which was transporting the crew inside the airport.
The plane then careened through a perimeter fence and struck a Toyota SUV that was traveling on Northwest 67th Avenue outside the airport. The aircraft continued into the grass, where it hit a fence line, which separated an area where Tesla robotaxis were stationed, Homendy said.
She described the scene as “devastating” and said the van had been “torn apart.”
The NTSB’s investigator in charge of the probe, Chihoon Shin, said Tuesday night that the aircraft’s flight data recorder showed its thrust increased during landing in a way that was consistent with a “go-around” attempt, a maneuver in which a plane aborts its landing by pulling up and circling around to try to land again.
Four seconds later, Shin said, the throttles were reduced to idle power and the landing gear brakes were reapplied. Throttles were kept at idle and the brakes remained applied until the end of the recording, he said.
But, Shin noted, “The speed brakes and the thrust reversers were not deployed.”
Speed brakes are active flaps commonly deployed to help a plane slow down. Thrust reversers are commonly used on passenger jets upon landing, also to help them slow down.
Asked why neither were deployed, Shin said it was too soon to say and didn’t want to speculate.
Cellphone video obtained by NBC South Florida showed someone jumping out of the plane after the crash. A photo sent to NBC News showed a crew member being taken away on a gurney at the airport.
The cleaning company said in a statement Tuesday that it was “heartbroken” by the deaths of its workers.
“Our employees are far more than the people who work beside us each day, they are family, and they are deeply loved,” the statement read. “Our hearts and prayers are with every employee and every family whose lives have been forever changed. We grieve with those who lost a loved one and pray for the healing and recovery of those who were injured.”
One of Leon’s neighbors said he was very kind and would help her by taking her to appointments. A family member said Leon and his co-workers were at the end of their shift when the crash happened. The family member said Leon’s son was devastated.
A neighbor of Pineda, who lived in Hialeah, remembered him as jovial and kind and said there was “lots of music, lots of fun” when his children visited him.
“He was someone who was always laughing and telling stories,” Alberto Leandro said. “You’d see him and he’d crack a joke in the elevator.”
Leandro said Pineda was known as “El mago” — “The Magician” — because he was always doing magic tricks.
Fellow neighbor Elena Forte said Pineda was from Havana, Cuba. She got to know him after Pineda came over to introduce himself and to let her know to reach out to him if she ever needed anything.
“He was always calm, would say hello, and was always laughing,” she said. “He was a really good person.”
