MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A pair of ex-pilots for the cargo company operating the ill-fated Amazon Prime jet raised safety concerns prior to Sunday’s crash.

In sworn statements provided to Local 10 News in an ongoing Department of Labor dispute, pilot Karl Seuring and his attorney accuse 21 Air of not giving pilots enough time off between flights and creating unusually-long checklists.

“He filed the complaint with OSHA and he went to a hearing on that and lost. The next step procedurally taking it to the next level is the trial that was held on 2023,” said attorney Mike Anello. “We are awaiting the judge’s ruling.”

Official records show 21 Air was founded in 2014 in North Carolina. No one would speak to Local 10 from their office in northwest Miami-Dade County.

According to transcripts, Anello told a judge that Seuring found the “operation under that checklist made it more likely that airplane[s] using that list would suffer an accident, some type of tragic event.”

Another former pilot raised concerns as well.

In an email obtained by Local 10, retired pilot Don Helmig wrote to majority owner Jim Crane, “After three months, everywhere I looked there are issues.”

Anello said he was “sad” to hear the news of Sunday’s fatal incident at MIA.

“I was surprised to see that involved the same company that’s on the other side of our lawsuit,” he said. “And I hope everyone just lets the process play out.”

In a statement posted to its website, 21 Air said that the company is “devastated by the accident involving one of our aircraft…We are cooperating fully with the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, and local authorities.”

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