Captain in Fatal Amazon Cargo Plane Crash Was Former Black Hawk Helicopter Pilot

The pilot in command of the Amazon Prime cargo jet that overran a runway at Miami International Airport, killing five people, was a former U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter instructor and aviation safety officer, Our News Outlet can reveal.

Joseph Carroll, one of two crew members who survived Sunday’s crash without injury, had logged 15 years in the military before moving into civilian airline work.

Carroll, a married father of two sons, entered the Army in 1997 as an air traffic controller before becoming a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot and later training other soldiers for combat deployments overseas.

In the final nine months of his service, the 55-year-old worked as a safety officer for an aviation company based in Reno, Nevada, according to his online résumé.

After leaving the Army in 2013, the Boulder, Colorado-based veteran took a senior role as vice president of flight operations at a drone company, where his responsibilities again included compliance, safety and occupational health.

He moved into commercial aviation in 2018, first flying for SkyWest Airlines before working with Kalitta Charters and, most recently, 21Air, the carrier operating Sunday’s Amazon flight.

That background placed the seasoned aviator at the controls of the Boeing 767 during a disastrous landing attempt now under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

On Tuesday night, investigators disclosed striking new information indicating the Boeing 767 may have wavered between completing its landing and attempting to take off again in the confusing final seconds before the crash.

NTSB engineer Chihoon Shin told reporters that 30 seconds before the end of the flight data recording, the nose landing gear and right main landing gear touched down.

The left main landing gear then touched down at Miami’s Runway 30 with 19 seconds to go.

Four seconds later, Chihoon said, the brakes were released and the throttles were ‘increased to values consistent with go-around thrust.’

The sudden burst of power could indicate that whoever was flying the plane, Carroll or First Officer Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37, was trying suddenly to abort their landing.

But with 11 seconds to go on the recording, they reduced the throttles to idle and reapplied the brakes.

There was, according to Chihoon, no indication they deployed their speed brakes and thrust reversers, both of which would have helped the massive plane reduce speed.

Investigators have not said whether it was Carroll or Silva flying the plane before it barreled into a cleaning van owned by aircraft cleaning company Professional Ocean Service Corp, killing five occupants and injuring two more.

Both airmen, who were hospitalized and then released, are due to be interviewed by the NTSB on Wednesday.

Our News Outlet asked an experienced 767 pilot who flies for a major commercial airline to interpret the latest data.

‘My initial read on the timeline is that whoever was flying the plane screwed up royally,’ the pilot said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

‘He landed too far down the runway and should have gone around. But it looks as though he allowed the airplane to touch down, started to apply brakes but forgot the thrust reverses and ground spoilers.

‘He realized he didn’t have enough runway left and advanced the power. He then realized he didn’t have enough runway to take off and hit the brakes. It was too late to avoid going off the runway.’

The pilot told Our News Outlet that attempting to land a plane amidst an unstable approach might see the crew flagged for retraining at a passenger airline.

‘If you are outside these parameters, expect a phone call to explain why you continued the approach,’ he said.

‘No self-respecting pilot should be embarrassed by having to go around. Yes, there is some self-flagellation because it may have been caused by self-induced errors.

‘My response: who gives a crap. Safety is priority. There is no room for ego.’

Neither pilot could be reached for comment.

Captain Carroll had 7,145 hours of flying experience, while Silva had 2,655, according to the NTSB.

Carroll, for his part, was relatively inexperienced with the 767, having earned his type rating for the decades-old widebody jet in May.

Silva gained an aeronautical engineering degree from his native Colombia before moving to Miami to study and attend flight school.

A LinkedIn profile seen by Our News Outlet shows that Silva describes himself as a pilot who thrives in ‘dynamic environments where professionalism, communication and sound decision making are essential.’

‘I remain committed to advancing my aviation career while contributing to safe, efficient and high-performing flight operations,’ he said.

Social media posts reveal how Silva even used his passion for aviation to pull off an elaborate proposal to his wife, Lorena Arevalo, six years ago.

Photos show he flew over to reveal a massive ‘MARRY ME’ sign spelled out on the lawn, before getting down on bended knee on the tarmac.

The couple later posed with champagne and the new rock on his then-fiancée’s finger, alongside a light aircraft.

He even documented the romantic surprise in a nine-minute video titled ‘A proposal to remember in the air,’ and teasing in the caption: ‘she has no idea what is about to happen.’

The footage shows the couple buckled up in the plane and taking off, flying in the clear south Florida skies until he made his bride-to-be look down – where she spotted the marry me sign and was overcome, tearfully repeating, ‘te amo, te amo (I love you).’

The five dead were identified as Rolando Aleman, 55, Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53, Julio C Pineda, 75, Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53, and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo.

After crushing their van, the plane tore through a perimeter fence onto a local street where it hit an SUV, finally grinding to a halt 1,300ft past the end of the tarmac.

The plane was arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico – the aircraft’s third trip of the day.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but a preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration found that the airport is not equipped with the Engineered Materials Arresting System that has been installed at more than 120 airports nationwide.

The system places beds of lightweight, crushable material at the end of a runway to help bring planes that overshoot the tarmac safely to a stop, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the widow of one of those killed has launched a wrongful death lawsuit against both pilots, as well as Amazon, Amazon Air Cargo and 21 Air, alleging a catalogue of failures led to the tragedy.

Yaraisi Santiso Morejon, whose husband Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo was among the five who perished, filed the action in Miami Dade Circuit Court.

The lawsuit alleges pilot error and other failures were to blame, including inadequate training and the fact the aircraft was 32 years old.

Mike Morgan, of injury law firm Morgan & Morgan which is handling the case, said: ‘We allege that this was not a freak accident, but a foreseeable and preventable disaster caused by negligence.

‘What we’ve already uncovered points to a series of failures by the people flying the plane, the companies that put it in the air and the systems that were supposed to prevent this exact kind of tragedy. Yaraisi deserves answers and justice. We intend to get her both.’

‘Our hearts go out to Yaraisi and her family, as well as all those who were impacted by what we believe was a preventable tragedy,’ John Morgan, the firm’s founder, added. 

‘No one should lose their loved one this way, and the filing of this lawsuit is just the beginning of our fight to secure justice and accountability for Mr. Naranjo’s death. Everyone who played a role in this horrific crash will be held accountable.’

Our News Outlet reached out to the defendants named in the lawsuit.