Wife of man killed when Amazon-branded plane overran runway files wrongful death lawsuit

The wife of one of the victims killed when an Amazon-branded plane overran a runway at a Miami airport, striking an airline cleaning service van and a passenger SUV, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Yaraisi Santiso Morejon, the wife of Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, filed the lawsuit Wednesday, three days after the fatal incident at Miami International Airport that left four others dead and five injured.

The lawsuit, which names Amazon, Amazon Air Cargo and the cargo airline 21 Air as defendants, alleges that the crash was a “foreseeable and preventable result of multiple, concurrent failures.”

The plane’s two pilots, who survived the crash, Joseph Carroll and Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, are also listed as defendants. The suit accuses them of attempting a “high-speed, tailwind-affected landing” and cites pilot error and inadequate training.

The Boeing 767-300 aircraft was on its third trip Sunday when it landed and then overran the runway, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said. Earlier in the day, the plane had traveled from Cincinnati to Miami, and then Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It was returning from San Juan when it crashed. An Amazon spokesperson previously said that the flight was operated by 21 Air.

Homendy said that during the aircraft’s landing, it overran the runway and struck navigational aids and equipment before hitting a Ford van on airport property that was owned by Professional Ocean Service Corp., a contract cleaning service for airline companies.

Amazon Cargo Plane tilted on its side off an airport tarmac — The plane careened through a perimeter fence and struck a Toyota SUV that was driving on a road nearby. Joe Raedle / Getty Images

The plane careened through a perimeter fence and struck a Toyota SUV that was driving on a road nearby. The aircraft continued into the grass, where it hit a fence line that separated an area where Tesla robotaxis were stationed, Homendy said.

Morejon’s attorneys said that Rodriguez Naranjo, 53, who was driving the van, died on impact. The workers were leaving their last job and were headed home when the crash occurred, attorney Mike Morgan said at a Wednesday news conference.Four of his colleagues were also killed. They were identified Tuesday by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.

The cleaning company said in a statement Tuesday that it was “heartbroken” by the deaths of its workers.

One of Leon’s neighbors said he was very kind and would help take her to appointments. A family member said Leon’s son was devastated.

A neighbor of Pineda remembered him as jovial and kind and said he was known as “El mago,” or “The Magician,” because he was always doing magic tricks.

“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.”

Fellow neighbor Elana Forte said Pineda was “always calm” and “always laughing.”

The Gutierrez Firm represents the families of Acosta Fajardo and Reyes Quevedo. Attorney Jorge P. Gutierrez Jr. said Acosta Fajardo was “an incredible human being, a loving husband, devoted son, cherished friend, and valued co-worker.” Reyes Quevedo’s sudden death has left his relatives and friends “heartbroken,” Gutierrez said in a statement.

Gutierrez said his office will conduct a thorough and independent investigation.

Five other people were injured and taken to the hospital. Eugenio Corredor, 79, and Ridoel Averhoff Diaz, 32, remain in critical condition, and Roosevelt Sebastian Perdomo Torres, 36, is stable, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

Silva Molina, 37, and Carroll, 55, the two pilots, were treated and released. They could not be reached at phone numbers listed for them.

Morgan said that it appears the pilots “grossly overshot” the runway. He said that based on the information that they have and their own research, the landing spot was overshot “by over 1,000 feet.”

Morgan also accused the pilots of approaching the runway “grossly over the speed that they should have been attempting.” He said a “tailwind event” also made the landing more hazardous.

“This aircraft should have made a fly-around attempt, a go-around attempt,” he said.

The attorney said that what they heard from the cockpit sounded “like a lot of confusion.”

“It sounds as if there is an unknowing of what to do and unknowing of the imminent danger of overshooting the runway,” he said.

Data from the flight’s cockpit voice recorder (CVR) revealed that as one pilot was trying to land, “the other pilot cautioned they were too fast,” according to a summary of the CVR data released Wednesday by the NTSB.

The other pilot had made several comments on “the aircraft’s excessive speed throughout the remainder of the recording” — lasting about two minutes — but there was no “consistent verbal response to the comments about speed,” the summary said.

The CVR data released Wednesday suggested the plane touched down, and about 15 seconds later a pilot called for a go-around, a maneuver in which a plane aborts its landing by pulling up and circling around to try to land again.

“Sounds similar to the aircraft departing the paved surface” were heard some five seconds after the pilot’s go-around request, according to the NTSB summary.

The NTSB’s investigator in charge of the probe, Chihoon Shin, had said Tuesday that the aircraft’s flight data recorder showed its thrust increased during landing in a way that was consistent with a go-around attempt.

Four seconds later, the throttles were reduced to idle power, and the landing gear brakes were reapplied, he said. Throttles were kept at idle, and the brakes remained applied until the end of the recording, Shin said, noting that “the speed brakes and the thrust reversers were not deployed.”

Speed brakes are active flaps commonly deployed to help an aircraft slow down. Thrust reversers are typically used on passenger jets upon landing, also to help them slow down. Shin said it was way too soon to know why the speed brakes and thrust reversers weren’t deployed before the crash.

Homendy said at a news conference Tuesday night that Carroll, 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, she said.

Carroll was rated to fly the type of aircraft involved in the crash in May, while Silva Molina was rated to fly it in April 2025, Homendy said. The plane was carrying more than 32,000 pounds of cargo, mostly contact lenses, when it crashed.

A spokesperson for Amazon and Amazon Air Cargo said in an updated statement Wednesday that its “deepest sympathies remain with the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating tragedy.”

Amazon said it is fully cooperating with the investigation and will “continue to coordinate with 21 Air.”It also said that it has been working with officials in Miami-Dade to obtain contact information for the families affected by the crash.

21 Air did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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