An Amazon Air cargo jet crashed in Texas and all 3 onboard are believed dead

Mark Makela/Reuters

Amazon Air contracts to cargo airliners like Atlas Air.

• Atlas Air Flight 3591 crashed at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday in Texas, leaving three people presumed dead.
• A search is underway for those who were onboard, Atlas Air said in a statement.
• The cargo flight was contracted by Amazon Air.
• Pilots from Atlas Air, who contracts to Amazon among others, have told Business Insider that fatigue and lack of experience is common in the company.

Three people are reportedly presumed dead after an Amazon Air cargo flight, operated by Atlas Air, crashed today in Texas.

A search is underway for the people who were onboard, Atlas Air told Business Insider in a statement.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the flight crew, their families and friends along with the entire team at Atlas Air during this terrible tragedy," Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations at Amazon, said in a statement. "We appreciate the first responders who worked urgently to provide support."

Atlas Air Flight 3591 was flying from Houston to Miami. According to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane lost signal about 30 miles southeast of Houston George Bush International Airport. The FAA then issued an alert notice.

Pilots from the airlines that Amazon Air contracts with have told Business Insider that their pay and benefits are far below industry standards. Pilots said that means the pilots who work with Amazon Air tend to be less experienced.

"It's a ticking time bomb," Captain Robert Kirchner, Atlas pilot and executive council chairman of Teamsters Local 1224, told Business Insider weeks before the crash.

Kirchner and other Atlas Air pilots said the company, which contracts to Amazon, DHL, and other carriers, tends to overwork their pilots.

"They don't recognize pilot fatigue," Kirchner previously told Business Insider. "They think it's people goofing off. We have to constantly show them some of these schedules. Ninety-nine percent of the time, we're able to prove to them that this is a fatiguing schedule."

Are you a pilot who works at ABX, Atlas Air, or another cargo airline that contracts to Amazon? Contact rpremack@businesssinsider.com.