MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Roosevelt S. Perdomo Torres, a survivor of the cargo plane crash that killed five of his co-workers on Sunday at Miami International Airport, remained in the intensive care unit on Friday at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami-Dade County.
Perdomo Torres, 36, was in a white 2012 Ford E-150 Econoline van, owned by Professional Ocean Service Corp., working at MIA, when a Boeing 767-300 cargo jet operating as Prime Air Flight 7598 overran a runway and crashed.
“Mr. Perdomo Torres was thrown into the air. He had the wherewithal to try to land sort of belly down, rather than on his back, thinking always about surviving,” said Attorney Pablo Rojas, who is representing Perdomo Torres and filed a lawsuit on his behalf on Friday in Miami-Dade County civil court.
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As federal investigators continued to collect and analyze evidence, Rojas, an aviation expert, claimed there were “apparent errors” and “safety lapses,” including “deficiencies” in training, supervision, operational oversight, and maintenance of the 32-year-old aircraft.
“For at least a minute, there were warnings inside the cockpit that the aircraft was approaching the runway too fast, and descending excessively,” Rojas wrote in Perdomo Torres’s personal injury lawsuit, which names Amazon, Amazon Services, 21 Air, Avia Acquisition, Avia Investments, Andromeda Leasing II, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Titan Aviation Leasing Limited Americas, and the two pilots.
The five dead identified by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday were Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
“They were wrapping up their eight-hour shift,” Rojas wrote in the 32-page lawsuit seeking damages in excess of $50,000.
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Perdomo Torres claims he saw the jet coming towards the van, and was conscious when the force of the impact “flung” him “into the air,” and threw him from the van, which turned into “an unrecognizable heap of metal,” according to the lawsuit.
“When he landed, the impact crushed and fractured his hand,” Rojas wrote in the lawsuit. “The impact with the ground also caused fractures to his leg and ankle. Fighting for his life amid the chaos, Mr. Perdomo Torres attempted to stand, but was unable to.”
Without an Engineered Materials Arresting System, or EMAS, a safety bed to stop the jet, at MIA, the jet also struck a Toyota Corolla Cross LE SUV on Northwest 67th Avenue. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel found Perdomo Torres on the ground and took him in an ambulance to JMH, where he underwent surgeries, according to the lawsuit.
The four others injured were Perdomo Torres’s co-worker, Ridoel Averhoff Diaz, 32, whose condition was critical on Tuesday; Joseph Carroll and Jaime Silva, the pilot and the co-pilot, who suffered minor injuries; and the driver of the Toyota, Eugenio Corredor, 79, whose condition was critical on Tuesday.
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The lawsuit claims the jet was “approaching the runway too fast and descending excessively,” the runway’s approach was at an “unsafe speed,” the landing was “too far down the runway,” and the landing gear made only partial contact with the ground.
“A pilot called for flaps to be set to 20 degrees, and the other pilot cautioned they were too fast. The other pilot made additional comments regarding the aircraft’s excessive speed throughout the remainder of the recording. There was not a consistent verbal response to the comments about speed," an NTSB investigator wrote on a report about findings on the jet’s cockpit voice and fight data recorders.
The lawsuit also alleged the jet’s “full braking power” was not deployed as it was “barreling down the runway,” and the pilots gave “shifting and contradictory inputs,” as they appeared to have attempted a “go-around” to abort the landing before they “reversed this decision” and attempted to stop.
“By then, it was far too late,” Rojas wrote in the lawsuit.
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The jet traveled for 1,300 feet “past the paved surface,” according to National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy.
“No indication in the recorded data that speed brakes or thrust were deployed,” Chihoon Shin, the NTSB’s lead investigator, said during a news conference on Tuesday night.
There was “a trail of destruction the length of several football fields,” Rojas wrote in the lawsuit.
The jet stopped in an empty field with its nose in a parking lot for Tesla Robotaxis. Miami-Dade Fire Chief Ray Jadallah said a “complex fire” followed. A witness’s video showed one of the pilots climbing out of a window and using the firefighters’ ladder.
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Carroll, 55, the captain, “received his type rating in the 76,” a mandatory certification for the Boeing 767, in May, and Silva, 37, the first officer, received his type rating in the 76 on April 2, 2025. Silva had 2,655 flight hours as of Aug. 13, and Carol had 7,145 flight hours as of March 31, according to the NTSB.
As the jet, registered as N1997A, remained on the crash site, one of MIA’s four runways was closed on Friday.
Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz asked travelers on Tuesday to check with airlines for the status of their flights. She also warned drivers that 67th Avenue was closed to the public from 25th to 32nd streets.
Homendy asked witnesses to share photos and videos with the NTSB team via e-mail at witness@ntsb.gov.
Cordero-Stutz asked the victims’ relatives to contact MDSO victims’ advocates at 305-471-1900.
This is a developing story. Local 10 News requested comments from the parties mentioned in the lawsuit.
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