NTSB schedules public meeting on fatal Atlas Air flight

White planes on airport taxiways.

The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a hearing next month as part of its investigation into the probable cause of an Atlas Air cargo plane that crashed in February 2019 in a marshy bay near Houston. 

The Boeing 767-300 freighter was operated by Atlas under contract with online mega-retailer Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and was also carrying mail for the U.S. Postal Service. It was flying to George Bush Intercontinental Airport from Miami when it went down, killing the two pilots and one other person on board.

According to information on the cockpit flight recorder, Flight 3591 lost contact with ground control seconds before impact. 

The NTSB meeting is scheduled for July 14 at 9:30 a.m. Members and staff will meet virtually to maintain physical distancing during the coronavirus and the proceedings will be webcast. 

Atlas Air is a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (NASDAQ: AAWW)

Amazon Air is in expansion mode. Last week the company announced plans to grow its fleet size in partnership with Air Transport Services Group. It also recently launched operations with Sun Country and is opening new airport facilities around the country.