Summary
- ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 crashed due to a fire in the cargo hold caused by expired oxygen generators.
- 110 people died in the crash. The rescue efforts were made difficult by the swampy Everglades.
- The accident led to the grounding of the entire aircraft fleet, changes to cargo hold regulations, and the construction of a memorial to the accident in 1999.
It was May 11, 1996. ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 was preparing for takeoff. The inbound flight had arrived late at Miami International Airport in Florida. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 had 105 passengers and 5 crew members on board. Their destination was Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.
The flight crew
The captain was Candalyn “Candi” Kubeck. She had loved aviation since she was a child and had taken flying lessons in high school. She was an experienced pilot and had just turned 35 the day before.
She planned to celebrate with friends and family after the trip. She had previously worked for Eastern Airlines until it closed. The first officer was Richard Hazen, a retired military pilot and flight engineer who served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years.
The flight attendants
- Lori Cushing, 36, who was described as a nice lady and a good student. She had moved in the fall to take up the job as a flight attendant.
- Mandy Summers, 22, had been working for the airline since October last year. A week earlier, she had told her parents that she was quitting her job as a flight attendant.
- Jennifer Stearns, 21, actually wanted to become a police officer, but her parents thought it was too dangerous. She was not assigned to the flight. A friend asked her to step in for her.
During the day
The DC-9 was loaded with 4,109 pounds of cargo (baggage, mail, and company materiel (COMAT)). The COMAT consisted of two main tires and wheels, a nose tire and wheel, and five boxes described as “oxy canisters – empty.” This cargo was loaded into the forward cargo hold.
The DC-9 departed Gate G2 shortly before 1:40 p.m. It was delayed by one hour and four minutes due to electrical and circuit breaker problems. The autopilot was not working and the left fuel flow indicator was defective.
The flight attendants gave the safety briefing via megaphone because the intercom was not working. They then secured the cabin and went to their folding seats.
Disasters happen within minutes
At 2:04 p.m., the DC-9 departed runway 9L and began to climb normally. At 2:10 p.m., there was a loud bang and smoke began to rise into the cabin. The captain reported an electrical problem and said, “We’re losing everything” and asked to return to Miami. The passengers began shouting, “Fire, fire, fire!” Lori tried to contact the flight crew, but the intercom did not work.
She shouted, “We need oxygen! We can’t get any oxygen back here!” Fire was now creeping through the cabin floor. The first officer ordered an immediate return to Miami and they began the descent.
The air traffic controller asked what the problem was and the captain said “fire” and the first officer said “smoke in the cabin.” Lori went into the cockpit and shouted “complete fire!” and slammed the door to stop any more smoke from entering the cockpit.
The plane slowly lost power as the electrical and flight control systems began to fail. The first officer asked the air traffic controller for the nearest airport, but it was too late. They fought to the end but were probably knocked out by fire and smoke. Flight 592 disappeared from radar at 14:13:42. The problem had occurred just three minutes earlier.
The consequences
The plane made a sharp right turn before rolling onto its side and crashing into the Everglades at over 500 miles per hour. The DC-9 disintegrated on impact. Witnesses said there was no visible damage, smoke or fire from the plane and it simply disappeared when it hit the swamp.
Nothing was left, just small scattered pieces of debris, part of the engine, and a puddle of jet fuel. Recovery was almost impossible due to the ship’s location in the swampy Everglades and the confetti-like debris. Recovery of the souls on board was equally difficult, as none of the remains were intact. Not all of them could be identified. All 110 souls perished.
Investigation results
The NTSB determined that the fire started in the forward cargo hold beneath the forward galley. The fire burned through the cabin floor and caused instrumentation and wiring to fail.
The cause was expired oxygen generators stored in the cargo hold. This was a violation of US federal aviation regulations that prohibit the transport of hazardous substances in passenger aircraft.
The investigation revealed that the generators were activated by an impact during taxiing. They began producing heat and activated the other canisters, which then started a fire involving other materials, including the aircraft tires.
Normally, fires are suppressed in the cargo hold, but the oxygen produced by the canisters fanned the flames. There were no smoke detectors in the cargo hold.
The containers were mislabeled and improperly stored as dangerous cargo. The airline had a poor safety record and the accident drew even more attention to the airline’s problems. The entire ValuJet fleet remained grounded for several months afterward. They were known for their aggressive cost-cutting measures. The flight attendants were recruited by the wife of the ValuJet president.
“I certainly went through the whole range of emotions, from depression to downright anger. From my own experience with the company, I know they made compromises on safety.”
Former ValuJet flight attendant who knew the crew members
(as reported by The Daily Press)
ValuJet was grounded but resumed flying in September of that year. The following year they took over Air Tran and changed their name as they never recovered from the accident. Air Tran was later purchased by Southwest Airlines. The NTSB found fault:
- SabreTech, for improper packaging and storage of hazardous substances.
- ValuJet for failing to oversee SabreTech.
- The FAA for failing to require the installation of smoke detectors and fire extinguishing systems in cargo holds, as recommended in 1988 after a similar incident.
In 1998, the FAA changed regulations and revised standards for cargo holds to equip them with smoke detectors and fire suppression systems that would make an accident like that of ValuJet Flight 529 recoverable.
In 1999, a memorial to the victims was erected in the Everglades. The memorial, consisting of 110 concrete pillars, is located north of the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County. It marks the crash site 12 miles north-northeast. Students designed the memorial and local contractors, masons and unions built it free of charge.
