The widow of Yoel Rodríguez Naranjo, a 53-year-old Cuban who died in the crash of a cargo plane operating for Amazon at Miami International Airport (MIA), filed a
Local 10 reported this Wednesday that Yaraisi Santiso Morejón, the wife of Rodríguez Naranjo, filed what the outlet describes as the first lawsuit filed after the accident, which occurred on Sunday at Miami International Airport.
The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Miami-Dade County and names as defendants Amazon Inc. and Amazon Air Cargo, in addition to 21 Air LLC, other companies related to the operation and leasing of the aircraft, and pilots Joseph Carroll and Jaime Felipe Silva Molina.
According to the lawsuit, a series of faults may have contributed to the accident, including pilot error, inadequate training, and the use of a 32-year-old aircraft.
These are, for the time being, allegations made in the complaint and not official conclusions regarding the causes of the accident, which is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The law firm Morgan & Morgan, representing the widow, announced on Tuesday that it has taken on her representation and is preparing a lawsuit for the death of her husband.
After formalizing the legal action, lawyer Mike Morgan stated that the firm believes what happened was not just a simple "strange accident," but a "foreseeable and preventable disaster."
Rodríguez Naranjo was driving a Ford Econoline belonging to Professional Ocean Service Corp., a company that provides aircraft cleaning services, when the Boeing 767 operating flight 7598 of Amazon Air went off runway 30 after landing from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
According to CBS Miami, there were seven workers in the van. The plane struck it within the airport grounds, then crossed the perimeter fence and collided with another vehicle on Northwest 67 Avenue.
According to Local 10, the five deceased were employees of Professional Ocean Service Corp. who were traveling in the van; two other occupants of the van survived.
The five victims were Cuban, according to a report by 14ymedio this Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47; Rolando Alemán León, 55; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Yoel Rodríguez Naranjo, 53.
The media reported that The New York Times confirmed that Reyes Quevedo, Alemán León, and Pineda were Cuban migrants, while a coworker stated on social media that Rodríguez Naranjo and Acosta Fajardo were also Cuban.
"The five Cubans. They worked with me," stated Eduardo Sangster, a colleague of the deceased, who also described them as hardworking individuals.
Previously, the NTSB had revealed new details about the accident, including that seven people were traveling in the Ford Econoline that was struck by the plane and that the aircraft also ended up impacting a second vehicle after crossing the airport perimeter.
According to The Associated Press, the Boeing traveled about 1,300 feet, or approximately 396 meters, beyond the end of the runway before coming to a stop.
The aircraft involved was a 32-year-old Boeing 767 that was originally built to transport passengers and was converted to a freighter in 2015.
The flight was operated by 21 Air, a cargo airline based in North Carolina.
The NTSB continues to investigate the approach, landing, weather conditions, aircraft operation, and other factors that may have contributed to the incident.
The flight recorders are part of an investigation that will officially determine what caused the aircraft to end up off the runway.
Amazon has stated that it is cooperating with the authorities and expressed its condolences to the victims and their families.
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