ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 25, 1996 TAG: 9611250156
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MIAMI
SOURCE: Associated Press
Choking back tears, a federal safety official Friday told families of the ValuJet crash victims ``we can't make the pain go away,'' but promised changes to ensure ``this kind of accident never happens again.''
John Goglia, head of the National Transportation Safety Board panel investigating the May 11 crash, made the comments at the end of weeklong hearings critical of the airline, its maintenance contractor SabreTech and the Federal Aviation Administration, for its handling of public safety.
Earlier in the day, an FAA manager testified that his call for an immediate review of ValuJet's right to fly three months before Flight 592 plunged into the Everglades was ignored by his supervisor. All 110 people aboard died in the crash.
The failure to follow up on the report provoked more anger from the NTSB panel and victims' families. So, when the testimony concluded, Goglia addressed families directly from the podium, as he had done several times during the hearings.
``Personally, I know what we couldn't do,'' he said. ``We can't make the pain go away. I wish we could but that's not possible.''
But he promised that his panel, which has been critical all week of the FAA, would make changes.
The families applauded Goglia, as they have several times during the week. One family member shouted: ``Thank you, John!''
After the hearings concluded, family members charged that government procedures may have led to the deaths of their loved ones.
Robert Schaumbach, who lost his sister, brother-in-law and their three children, said the fire aboard the ValuJet plane was ``fed by incompetence, indifference and arrogance in the industry and federal bureaucracy.''
Improperly boxed oxygen canisters in the jet's cargo hold are believed to have started the fire that caused the crash.
The anger grew Friday after the testimony of FAA middle manager John Tutora, who said his ValuJet report was ignored.
NTSB investigative panel member Bernard Loeb said he found it ``mind-boggling that this could happen in a federal agency whose main mission is safety or should be safety.''
ValuJet's problems went beyond mere growth, Goglia said, noting that the airline had 15 emergency landings, including five engine failures, in 1994 when it had a fleet of 14. ``What does it take to trigger a response? Who's sleeping?'' he asked.
``I don't think anyone's sleeping,'' responded William White, deputy director of flight standards at the FAA. ``I think they're doing their job.''
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines KEYWORDS: 2DAby CNB