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NTSB schedules public meeting on fatal Atlas Air flight

All-cargo airline provides contract carriage for Amazon Air

Eric Kulisch
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An Atlas Air 767 cargo plane like this one crashed last year on approach to George Bush Intercontinental Airport. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves at Houston Airport IAH)

The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a hearing next month as part of its investigation into the probable cause of an Atlas Air cargo plane that crashed in February 2019 in a marshy bay near Houston. 

The Boeing 767-300 freighter was operated by Atlas under contract with online mega-retailer Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and was also carrying mail for the U.S. Postal Service. It was flying to George Bush Intercontinental Airport from Miami when it went down, killing the two pilots and one other person on board.

According to information on the cockpit flight recorder, Flight 3591 lost contact with ground control seconds before impact. 

The NTSB meeting is scheduled for July 14 at 9:30 a.m. Members and staff will meet virtually to maintain physical distancing during the coronavirus and the proceedings will be webcast. 


Atlas Air is a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (NASDAQ: AAWW)

Amazon Air is in expansion mode. Last week the company announced plans to grow its fleet size in partnership with Air Transport Services Group. It also recently launched operations with Sun Country and is opening new airport facilities around the country. 

Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was runner up for News Journalist and Supply Chain Journalist of the Year in the Seahorse Freight Association's 2024 journalism award competition. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist. He won the group's Environmental Journalist of the Year award in 2014 and was the 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com