By
Lauren Rosenblatt
Seattle Times business reporter
The fatal cargo plane crash in Miami on Sunday is bringing to light a complaint filed four years ago against 21 Air, the operator of the Amazon-branded aircraft.
It’s too soon to know what caused the plane to overrun the runway, killing five people and injuring five others, and it will be some time before the National Transportation Safety Board releases a probable cause. But since the crash, a legal complaint from a former 21 Air pilot alleging retaliation for raising safety concerns has resurfaced.
Karl Seuring, a former pilot for Delta Air Lines and 21 Air who lives in Redmond, filed the complaint with the Department of Labor against 21 Air in 2022, alleging wrongful termination.
In legal documents, Seuring and other former pilots voiced concern about 21 Air’s safety culture and practices, including not giving pilots enough rest between flights, improperly managing flight crew resources in-flight and discouraging employees from speaking up about safety concerns.
Seuring, 62, began working for 21 Air in December 2021. Before that, he was a Delta pilot, and he alleged he was terminated for raising safety concerns with the airline. He lost that case before a Department of Labor administrative law judge in 2019.
After working at 21 Air for roughly six months, Seuring was fired in July 2022. In the complaint against 21 Air, Seuring alleged he was fired for a number of reasons unrelated to his performance and qualifications as a pilot, including his past complaint against Delta, his work with the union representing pilots at 21 Air and his knowledge of internal reports of safety concerns at 21 Air.
The case is ongoing, and it’s unclear if any of Seuring’s claims are relevant to the Sunday crash.
But the crash has brought heightened media attention to Seuring’s allegations, as well as Amazon’s network of cargo carriers that operate often behind-the-scenes for the e-commerce giant.
Rising interest
21 Air, based in Greensboro, N.C., with a hub in Miami, was founded in 2014. Houston Astros’ owner Jim Crane acquired a majority stake in the company in 2021. The carrier began operating flights for Amazon in 2024, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Asked to respond to Seuring’s claims, 21 Air said in a statement Thursday that “safety has been core to our culture …since the company was acquired in January 2021.”
“Our entire organization has focused on deploying the right training, protocols and procedures in all aspects of operational safety,” the statement continued. “The NTSB investigation is ongoing and we are actively cooperating. Once the investigation is completed, we will evaluate the results as part of our ongoing continuous improvement process.”
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said Thursday the company is aware of reports regarding former 21 Air employees’ concerns.
“We believe the allegations predate our relationship with the company and the current leadership team at 21 Air,” Nantel said. “Nonetheless, we take any allegation related to safety with the utmost seriousness.”
“As the NTSB investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on specific claims that may be part of that review,” Nantel said. “We’re fully cooperating with the NTSB and all investigating authorities, and we expect 21 Air to do the same.”
It’s not unusual for Amazon, an e-commerce retailer and tech giant, to contract with dedicated cargo carriers. Amazon has done so since it launched its air cargo arm in 2016.
Now, after 10 years, it has contracted with at least 13 cargo carriers, including Alaska Airlines and Allegiant Air.
21 Air, which operates eight 767s for Amazon, accounts for a smaller share of Amazon’s cargo division, compared with other companies, according to Cirium. Air Transport International, owned by parent company Air Transport Services Group, operates the largest share, with 40 767s.
21 Air also contracts with DHL Aviation, according to Cirium. It operates a fleet of four 767s and three 757s for DHL.
‘Freight train’
In an interview Thursday, Seuring said he was not surprised to hear the news of a fatal crash involving his former employer because of the deficiencies he said he saw in the company’s “safety culture.”
“It was a freight train we couldn’t stop,” he said.
In legal documents filed with the Labor Department, Seuring alleged 21 Air’s pilot checklist was “too long,” which could adversely affect safety, and claimed the airline had gaps in its “cockpit resource management,” an industry term to describe a training process meant to reduce pilot error.
Seuring also detailed an instance where 21 Air pilots allegedly flew a plane with a “deficient weather radar,” in order to stay in line with company policies, though he did not elaborate on the company’s guidelines.
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Seuring said he emailed 21 Air’s chief pilot in 2022 about “issues with insufficient amounts of time for pilot rest before being noticed to fly again,” according to the legal documents.
In an email to 21 Air majority owner Crane in 2021, shared by Seuring’s attorney, retired 21 Air pilot Don Helmig outlined some of the same safety concerns that have arisen in Seuring’s complaint. Helmig warned in the email of “significant challenges” facing the company.
“After three months, everywhere I looked there are issues,” Helmig wrote. He alleged that 21 Air was not following a safety management system, a framework for addressing and responding to safety concerns required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
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“In my opinion, what they wished me to do is say nothing,” Helmig wrote.
NTSB investigates
As part of its investigation into the fatal Miami crash, the NTSB will look at Amazon’s contractual relationship with 21 Air, Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters in one of the first news briefings following the crash.
In a separate briefing, Homendy said she heard reports of employee complaints against 21 Air and, though she knew nothing about those claims, she encouraged employees and others with relevant information to contact the safety board.
In a Wall Street Journal article published Wednesday, Homendy said “there’s a lot of questions” on 21 Air’s “structure,” safety procedures, training policies and its relationship with Amazon.
“Does Amazon just take a hands-off approach? Do they evaluate these operators? We don’t know,” Homendy said in the article.
Many aviation safety experts have wondered since the crash why the pilots did not abort the landing and perform a “go around,” where they bring the plane back up and attempt to land again.
The NTSB said in early updates that one of the pilots did call for a go around and that the plane’s throttle increased to values consistent with doing so, but then reversed course and continued with the landing.
Karlene Petitt, a former Delta pilot and prominent whistleblower, said in an interview with The Seattle Times this week that there are lots of reasons why pilots choose not to go around. Sometimes they just want to get home. Sometimes they don’t have enough fuel to go around. And sometimes they feel pressure to stick to a schedule, especially for cargo deliveries, Petitt said.
Lauren Rosenblatt: 206-464-2927 or lrosenblatt@seattletimes.com. Lauren Rosenblatt is a Seattle Times business reporter covering Boeing and the aerospace industry.
