Five members of a crew killed when an Amazon cargo jet smashed into their van were wrapping up their eight-hour shift cleaning planes at the Miami airport when the crash happened, lawyers for one of the victims said on Wednesday.
Two other workers in the van were in the hospital days after their Econoline van was crushed by the speeding jet that investigators said appeared to be reconsidering a landing Sunday before running out of runway.
They were working a job that can be hot, low-paying and sometimes dangerous, but also is critical to keeping the airline industry moving 24 hours a day.
Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53, came to the U.S. from Cuba in 2011 and worked multiple jobs for his family over the past 14 years, said attorney Jorge Garcia, who is a friend of Naranjo’s family and filed a wrongful death lawsuit on their behalf against Amazon, 21 Air, which operated the plane, and the pilots.
Naranjo was driving the van and working a 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift for Professional Ocean Service Corp. His wife started frantically texting him when he didn’t arrive home on time. After seeing her texts weren’t being read, she found a news story about the crash, Garcia said.
Naranjo was a “very hardworking man, very loved by his wife, very loved by his son, and as you can imagine what they’ve gone through is really unimaginable,” Garcia said at an online news conference.
Julio C. Pineda also came to the U.S. from Cuba. The 75-year-old was known as “El mago” — “The Magician” — because he was always doing magic tricks, his neighbors told NBC News.
He was calm, helpful, and there was always music and fun when his children came over, they said.
“He was someone who was always laughing and telling stories,” Alberto Leandro said. “You’d see him and he’d crack a joke in the elevator.”
Killed along with Naranjo and Pineda were Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
Ridoel Averhoff Diaz, 32, and Roosevelt Sebastian Perdomo Torres, 36, remained in the hospital in critical condition Tuesday, the sheriff's office said.
Professional Ocean Service Corp. has been cleaning planes at the Miami International Airport for at least 15 years.
“Our employees are far more than the people who work beside us each day, they are family, and they are deeply loved,” the company said in a statement after the crash.
The company cleans and disinfects the inside and outside of both private and commercial jets. Its workers can clean and replace carpet and paint cabins too, according to photos from its website.
Cleaning an airplane is physically demanding work done under intense time pressure, experts say. Crews lug mops, brooms and other supplies up and down aircraft stairs, reach into seat backs and overhead bins, scrub bathrooms and wipe down surfaces.
“They’re in a van. They get rushed to the airplane and are standing by on the jetway when the airplane arrives. The minute the passengers are off, their foreman is rushing them to get into that airplane to grab every piece of trash, do a wipe down of the bathrooms and countertops, and get the heck out of there,” said Soma Priddle, a retired commercial airline captain and attorney who represents pilots and other aviation workers.
Inside a plane, workers can be exposed to harsh cleaners as well as bodily fluids and other contaminants left by passengers. Outside the plane there is hydraulic fluid, jet fuel and de-icing fluids, she said.
And they are working around some of the most powerful equipment on an airport ramp. At any given moment, workers can be alongside aircraft weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds, moving across busy tarmacs and working in extreme heat before climbing into airplane bellies that can be even hotter, said Manny Pastreich, president of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 20,000 airport workers along the East Coast.
“It’s dynamic and dangerous work,” Pastreich said.
Workers often have little experience and are typically paid close to minimum wage with few or no benefits, Pastreich said. High turnover means crews are frequently made up of newer workers, which can add another layer of risk in an already demanding environment.
“It’s an incredibly hard job and not as well compensated as it should be,” said Pastreich, whose union did not represent the workers killed in Miami.
The tight turnaround times can add to the pressure. Cleaning contracts are competitive, Priddle said, and companies that cannot consistently get planes cleaned and ready on time risk losing their business.
“It’s a god-awful job,” Priddle said. “They work long hours. They’re just pushed and pushed and pushed.”
An NTSB investigator works near a damaged van at the site where an Amazon cargo plane overshot the runway two days earlier while landing at Miami International Airport, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
An Amazon cargo plane sits near Miami International Airport two days after overshooting a runway, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Miami Dade Fire Rescue officials inspect a damaged vehicle two days after an Amazon cargo plane overshot a runway at Miami International Airport, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s “The Pitt” versus “Pluribus” and “Hacks” against “Widow’s Bay” at the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday night.
The stars of all four shows — Noah Wyle in “The Pitt,” Rhea Seehorn in “Pluribus,” Jean Smart in “Hacks” and Matthew Rhys in “Widow’s Bay” — look to be runaway favorites for the top acting awards. And prognosticators are nearly all picking “The Pitt” to win its second straight best drama prize.
But the television competition should otherwise be tight at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The ceremony will air live on NBC starting at 8 p.m. Eastern with one of the network’s signature stars, three-time Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay, hosting. Peacock will stream the show live. The network is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and will have a “peacock blue” carpet in place of the usual red.
Presenters announced Wednesday include Zendaya, Sally Field, Jon Hamm, Alan Cumming, Keke Palmer, Florence Pugh, Odessa A'zion and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz.
HBO Max’s day-in-the-life-of-an-emergency-room drama “The Pitt” has already become a cultural institution in two seasons, and after big wins as an upstart rookie, it was this year’s top overall nominee with 25. “Hacks,” which follows the travails of a standup comic fighting back against age prejudice, sexism and obscurity in the entertainment industry, led all comedies with a record-breaking 24 nominations for its fifth and final season.
Here’s a closer look at where things stand and how they might play out.
While the biggest stars are still awaiting the opening of the envelopes, the majority of this year’s Emmys were already handed out at early ceremonies Saturday and Sunday.
“Widow’s Bay,” the first-year Apple TV horror comedy with Rhys as the mayor of a small New England town dealing with a centuries-old curse, won a whopping eight Emmys including best guest actress for Betty Gilpin.
The show had been widely acclaimed for its sly shifting between humor and dread, and it got 19 nominations, but few expected such a trophy haul. It can win up to six more on Monday.
“Hacks” managed just one win.
“The Pitt” won four early Emmys including an emotional first career victory for 73-year-old Ernest Harden Jr. as best guest actor in a drama.
“Pluribus,” another Apple TV Emmy rookie, from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, also won four.
The soon-to-be-host Hargitay won two Emmys for the documentary she directed about her mother, Jayne Mansfield, to go with one she already had for her long-running role on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
The early Emmys weekend will be edited down to a single recorded show that airs on FXX on Saturday at 8 p.m. in all time zones.
The doctors, nurses and patients of “The Pitt” were flooded with Emmy nominations for Season 2. Many will be competing against one another. There’s so much category overlap that despite having 12 nominations for Monday night’s awards, it can win only six.
Wyle alone can win four Emmys including directing, writing, best drama as a producer and best actor — an award he won last year in his role as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.
The other best drama nominees are “Paradise,” “Slow Horses,” “The Diplomat,” “The Gilded Age,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” “Your Friends & Neighbors,” and “Pluribus.”
Rarely has a single actor carried a show as much as Rhea Seehorn does “Pluribus,” where she plays one misanthropic woman taking on an alien hivemind that has enveloped almost everyone else alive. Voters are likely to reward the former “Better Call Saul” star with her first Emmy after four nominations.
Seehorn’s fellow nominees include Zendaya, who has won the category twice before for “Euphoria.”
Katherine LaNasa won best supporting actress last year for her “Pitt” portrayal of Nurse Dana, and the character had an even bigger second season, guiding patients through harrowing dramatic moments and becoming a viral phenomenon for the way she says “Baby Jane Doe” — an abandoned child in the ER who plays a key role in the season.
This year she’ll have three castmates — Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Sepideh Moafi — as competition.
“It feels really exciting to have more of my colleagues up on the board,” LaNasa told The Associated Press after the nominations were announced.
Two “Pitt” men — Patrick Ball and Shawn Hatosy — are up for supporting actor.
The Emmys loves to give golden send-offs to outgoing shows, and it will be stunning if Jean Smart doesn’t win best actress in a comedy for playing stand-up comic Deborah Vance, as she did for all four previous seasons.
But Emmy voters’ clear affection for “Widow’s Bay” could keep “Hacks” from winning much more. The two shows will be competing for best comedy along with “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Shrinking.”
Hannah Einbinder, who had a breakthrough win last year as best supporting actress in a comedy after four nominations for “Hacks,” will be up against Kate O’Flynn, who wowed with a breakout performance in the debut season of “Widow’s Bay.”
Both shows also have nominees for best supporting actor in a comedy, but they could easily be upstaged by Harrison Ford, who many think will finally win his first major Hollywood award for his performance on Apple TV’s “Shrinking.”
Apple TV has become the dominant force in Emmy comedy. This year’s nominees will benefit from the temporary absence of Apple’s “The Studio,” which had an all-time dominant Emmy performance last year, and of the streamer’s “Ted Lasso,” which put it on the Emmy map.
The limited series categories will have a diminished role at the main Emmys show after four of them were demoted to the early Emmys weekend.
HBO Max’s “DTF St. Louis” was the big winner of those awards, taking best supporting actor and actress for David Harbour and Linda Cardellini.
“Beef” brings star power to the lead acting categories, with Carey Mulligan the consensus favorite for best actress in a limited series and Oscar Isaac favored for best actor.
And after another year of antagonizing President Donald Trump, the late night shows of Jimmy Kimmel and the now-canceled Stephen Colbert are both up for outstanding variety series.
Noah Wyle poses in the press room during night two of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
