The aircraft, which is owned by Amerijet International, was on its third leg from Port of Spain, Venezuela, and was heading to Miami, Florida. The aircraft was piloted by Felix Joseph Grosso. A similar incident occurred in February 1999, at Las Americas airport when a stowaway attempted to hide in the underbelly of the aircraft, he too fell to his death. 

Amerijet International is an American cargo airline headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It operates all-jet cargo services to destinations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Its main base is Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, with a hub at Miami International Airport. 

The airline was established and started operations in 1974. It was founded by David Bassett (Chairman and Chief Executive) and a partner with one leased aircraft, operating passenger and cargo services between the USA and the Bahamas.  

In 1976, Amerijet became a freight only carrier. In late 1978, courier contracts were taken from Purolator, FedEx, UPS, DHL and from Airborne Express in the early 1980s. In 1982, Bassett bought out his partner and created Amerijet International. It operated under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from August 22, 2001, until December 31, 2001, from which it emerged after financial restructuring. Amerijet International is owned by HIG Capital (66%) and David Bassett (34%) and has 577 employees. 

Back in August 2009, pilots of the air cargo Amerijet International had gone on strike as a result of having to work long hours and lack of restroom facilities on their aircraft. The pilots had reported AmeriJet originally removed the plane's lavatories to reduce the plane's weight and the cost of servicing the restrooms.