An Atlas Air Boeing 767-300 freighter aircraft, operating for Amazon Air, has crashed into Trinity Bay east of Houston, Texas, on Saturday afternoon.
Flight 5Y3591 was operating from Miami on a scheduled cargo flight to Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport with three crew member on board. Radar and communication contact was lost shortly before 12:45 pm central time over Trinity Bay in Texas, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed in a statement.
We are deeply saddened to learn of the Atlas Air 767 freighter that crashed near Anahuac, TX, earlier today. We are concerned about the safety of the 3 people reported to be on board. Boeing is prepared to provide technical assistance to the NTSB as it investigates the accident.
— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) February 23, 2019
Initial images from the crash site indicate that the aircraft was completely destroyed on impact, it is highly unlikely that any of the crew members have survived the accident. Data from flight tracking services shows that the Boeing 767 entered a steep dive just before the crash. The reason for this is not yet known. An investigation has been launched by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
NTSB to launch Go Team to investigate Feb 23, 2019, crash of a cargo jet near Baytown, Texas.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) February 23, 2019
Atlas Air has since released a statement on the accident:
The involved 27-year-old aircraft is registered as N1217A and was converted to a freighter in 2016. Atlas Air operates this Boeing 767 for package delivery airline Amazon Air (formerly Prime Air) in a wet-lease agreement since April 2017.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
