CooperVision contact lens shipment stranded on disabled Amazon cargo jet

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the incident involving a flight at Miami International Airport. Among the aircraft’s cargo were contact lenses manufactured at CooperVision’s Juana Diaz facility in Puerto Rico. The company contracted with an independent third-party logistics provider that transports freight out of Puerto Rico on behalf of multiple organizations. CooperVision will support the National Transportation Safety Board and other relevant authorities as needed,” the company said.

CooperVision is a  division of San Ramon, California-based CooperCompanies (NASDAQ: COO).

The circumstances suggest that the flight primarily served Amazon Air Cargo, a two-year-old logistics unit that sells excess capacity on Amazon cargo jets to third-party shippers. Amazon Air was launched a decade ago to expedite package delivery for Amazon Prime members who ordered goods online, and now counts more than 100 aircraft in its fleet and more than 65 destinations in its air network.

Amazon Air Cargo is part of a broader company shift to commercialize a range of supply chain services developed to support internal inventory distribution and sales. After building a large, interconnected air network Amazon made capacity available to all shippers, regardless of whether they were sellers on Amazon’s marketplace and used Amazon’s fulfillment service. 

An analysis of data from FlightRadar24, which tracks commercial aircraft movements, shows that 21 Air continues to operate on behalf of Amazon and DHL Express as questions increase about 21 Air’s safety culture. Information extracted by the NTSB from the flight data and cockpit voice recorder shows Flight 7598 approached the airport too fast and that the pilots had trouble slowing the plane, overshot the runway’s touchdown zone, then had trouble getting all three landing gear on the runway, didn’t engage speed brakes or thrust reversers to slow the plane and hit the throttle in a a late attempt to take off before exiting the runway. The pilot received his type certification for the Boeing 767-300 cargo jet in May.

Since Sunday’s accident, 21 has operated seven Boeing 767-300s, primarily shuttling between Amazon’s superhub at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport and Miami, and also connecting those airports with San Juan, Puerto Rico; Quito, Ecuador; Bogota, Colombia and Lakeland, Florida, among other destinations.

Why It Matters: When shipments get delayed or lost they can disrupt supply chain operations. In CooperVision’s case, the affected shipment involves a very small amount of the company’s overall inventory and is not expected to impact operations or customer supply.

Meanwhile, the widow of one of five aircraft cleaning workers killed when their van was struck by the Amazon jet on Sunday is suing Amazon, Amazon Air Cargo, related companies, lessors and the pilots,  alleging pilot mistakes, safety failures and problems with the aircraft itself, according to a wrongful death complaint filed in Miami-Dade County Wednesday.

Yaraisi Santiso Morejon brought the lawsuit on behalf of her husband, Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, who was 53. Two coworkers in the van remain hospitalized in critical condition. 

The lawsuit alleges Amazon Air Flight 7598 was traveling significantly faster than normal as it approached Runway 30 and that its pilots failed to abandon the landing despite a tailwind and an unstable approach. 

The lawsuit alleges Amazon exercised substantial control over 21 Air’s flying for its cargo network, including flight schedules, aircraft use, cargo procedures and safety requirements.

Amazon should be held responsible for allegedly failing to adequately select, monitor and oversee the carrier.

The complaint also cites previous safety complaints it says were raised by former 21 Air employees involving maintenance, training, supervision and flight operations.

It argues Amazon knew, or should have known, about reported safety deficiencies before the crash.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

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