'Lack of understanding of how unsafe he was': A pilot in Amazon Air's crashed cargo plane raised safety concerns at previous employers and repeatedly failed key exams
- The National Transportation Safety Board made public more than 3,000 pages of its investigation into Atlas Air Flight 3591 on December 19.
- That flight was carrying Amazon and US Postal Service cargo, and was contracted by Amazon.
- The NTSB made no final report from the documents, but interviews point to oversights in training and hiring at Atlas.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The National Transportation Safety Board made public more than 3,000 pages of its investigation into Atlas Air Flight 3591 on December 19.
Three people, including two Atlas Air employees and one Mesa Airlines employee riding in the plane's jump seat, died in the February 23 crash. Called CustomAir Obsession, the plane was contracted to Atlas Air by Amazon, and was carrying Amazon and US Postal Service cargo.
The NTSB did not release a final report or conclusion with its opening of the public docket. But, interviews with myriad executives, pilots, and training officials reveal a disturbing truth about safety standards at Atlas Air, which contracted 20 of its 112 planes to Amazon as of February. Amazon also owns 20% of Atlas' stock warrants.
Two pilots were at the helm of Atlas Air Flight 3591, which it crashed on February 23 in Houston, Texas. The captain was Ricky Blakely, who had worked for Atlas Air since September 2015. He had 11,000 hours of flight experience and 1,250 hours of experience with the Boeing 767.
Conrad Jules Aska, the first officer, or copilot, had 5,000 hours total flight experience and about 520 hours of experience with the Boeing 767. Mesa Airlines Capt. Sean Archuleta, who was riding in the jump seat, also died in the crash.
What the NTSB documents showed
The NTSB investigators found numerous problems relating to Atlas' pilot hiring practices - specifically around Aska. The first officer previously worked at Mesa Airlines, Air Wisconsin, and CommutAir. At the latter two airlines, the NTSB found that he failed to finish training and was promptly flushed out of those carriers. He spent just a month at CommutAir.
Before working at Atlas, Aska was a first officer at Mesa. He tried but could not upgrade from FO to captain on the Embraer 175 regional jet at the Phoenix-based regional carrier. Check airmen, or pilot trainers, at Mesa raised several concerning flags to NTSB investigators.
Captain Paul Allred, Mesa Air check airman, told the NTSB that Aska was "one of the worst he'd ever seen, probably a 2" out of 10 in terms of piloting skills.
Meanwhile, Captain Leigh Lawless, another Mesa Air check airman, said Aska had a "lack of understanding of how unsafe he was."
NTSB investigators wrote, from talking with Lawless, that Aska "was making very frantic mistakes, lots and lots of mistakes, and did a lot of things wrong but did not recognize this was a problem. He thought he was a good pilot never had any problems and thought that he should be a captain. He could not evaluate himself and see that he did not have the right stuff."
Aska later applied to Atlas Air. He did not disclose his short stretches at Air Wisconsin or CommutAir while applying.
An Atlas spokesperson told Business Insider that the company's employees "meet or exceed all government safety standards. Atlas pilot training includes multiple reviews, evaluations and proficiency checks to comply with FAA regulations."
The spokesperson, who said Atlas is cooperating with the NTSB investigation, added that Atlas has enhanced employee training and candidate background checks since the crash.
Quick scaling
Scott Anderson, senior director of flight procedures, training, and standards at Atlas, told NTSB investigators that the airline would not have hired Aska had they known about his failures to pass trainings at those two airlines.
The pilot told Atlas during the hiring process that he was involved in real estate and freelance work during the two-year gap of his resume, which Atlas Air believed at the time.
"Any idea why Atlas didn't know about that -- those training difficulties?" the NTSB investigator asked.
"I don't know," Anderson responded. "I don't know."
Meanwhile, aviation attorney Steven Marks - who is representing Aska in a federal lawsuit against Amazon, Atlas, and other parties - said every proficiency check and airline an applicant works for is disclosed by the Federal Aviation Agency when they apply to a new airline. "It is a wakeup call to start paying attention more to the operations and not compromise safety at the expense of growth," Marks told Business Insider.
Additionally, Anderson said Aska had several remedial trainings while at Atlas. Asked why he did not receive additional remedial training or retribution, Anderson referred to "mitigating circumstances" - including the presence of FAA officials observing his type rating, which could have made him more nervous and his performance worse, as well as damage to his home during Hurricane Irma.
Anderson alluded in his interview to the quick scaling of Atlas Air in recent years. That growth is largely due to its partnership with Amazon, which it began working with in 2016.
Business Insider spoke with 13 pilots who work at Atlas Air and ATSG, Amazon's other air cargo partner, earlier this year. Those pilots described how a culture of quick growth at Atlas, due to the Amazon contract, which contributed to a decline in safety and hiring standards.
"I am concerned anytime that new entrants into aviation particularly carrying packages or goods enter a market where their background has been essentially trying to cut costs to make money," Jim Hall, who led the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) from 1994 to 2001, previously told Business Insider, referring specifically to Amazon.
"Cutting costs in aviation causes deaths and accidents."
