THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 13, 1996 TAG: 9605130039
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Long : 126 lines
With all hope for survivors gone, search teams began a daunting battle with the Everglades on Sunday to recover the bodies of 109 people who perished after a ValuJet Airlines DC-9 plummeted into the saw grass and disappeared beneath several feet of water and black muck.
The isolation of the crash site combined with the dangers and hardships posed by the alligator-and-snake-infested marsh, temperatures in the 80s with high humidity, mosquitoes and poor underwater visibility created extraordinary problems for rescue teams.
Among the dead was a woman traveling to Norfolk for her son's graduation today from Norfolk State University.
At the NSU commencement ceremonies, a moment of silence was observed for the victims of the crash, including Wilhelmenia Perry Oliver, the mother of graduate Shawn R. Perry, who on Sunday received a bachelor of arts in sociology. Oliver was en route to see her son graduate when the jet crashed.
The DC-9 had been in the air only eight minutes on a Saturday afternoon flight to Atlanta when the crew reported smoke in the cockpit. They attempted to turn around but the plane crashed about 15 miles northwest of Miami International Airport. The source of the cockpit smoke was unknown.
Tapes of the conversation between a male crew member and the airport tower indicate there also was smoke in the passenger cabin, National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Robert Francis said at a Sunday night news conference.
Gregory Feith, NTSB investigator in charge, said the last intelligible transmission from the plane was the crew member's acknowledgment of a request to turn back, assignment of a new altitude and the location of the nearest airport.
Investigators have located the plane's two engines, but did not expect to find large portions of the plane intact, Francis said.
Francis said much of the wreckage in the swampy waters is painted blue, which is the color ValuJet paints the rear of its planes, where the flight data and cockpit voice recorders are located.
Finding the blue plane sections encouraged investigators they would recover the recorders, Francis said. The devices are key to understanding what happened to the plane and what was said in the final moments before the crash.
While searchers continued their grim work, ValuJet Airlines Inc. President Lewis Jordan held a news conference in Miami Sunday.
``These are human beings,'' he said ``Every human being in every seat of the airplane is a life and a loved one with stories to tell, with friends, with places to go. It's Mother's Day weekend, we know that.''
The Atlanta-based discount airline has had at least three accidents since it began operations in 1993. The most serious was a runway fire last year that destroyed a plane and burned a flight attendant.
Jordan said he took full responsibility for the crash, but added there was no indication anything was wrong before the 27-year-old plane took off. A list of the plane's past problems showed nothing out of the ordinary, he said.
Federal Aviation Administration records showed the jet had returned to airports seven times over the past two years because of maintenance problems, from an oil leak to loss of cabin pressure.
``I have reviewed the list. . . and saw such things as overheating of a constant speed drive, a pressurization problem and a door ajar,'' Jordan said. He said he found nothing ``abnormal or shocking.''
The plane had a thorough annual inspection in October and a routine inspection four days before the crash. But the FAA began a special investigation in February based on the airline's rapid growth and several recent incidents.
``If ValuJet had any reason to believe one of our airliners was unsafe, we would voluntarily ground it,'' Jordan added. ``I can assure you that the FAA, if it had any reason to believe it was unsafe, they would ground it.''
Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and FAA Chairman David Hinson visited the crash site Sunday on orders from President Clinton.
At a news conference near the site, Pena said despite the ``very unusual'' investigation into ValuJet, he was confident the airline was safe.
``Whenever we have found any issues, ValuJet has been responsive, they have been cooperative, they have in some cases even exceeded the safety standards that we have at the FAA,'' Pena said. ``I have flown ValuJet, ValuJet is a safe airline, as is our entire aviation system.''
ValuJet has had a troubled recent history. The FAA's increased inspections of the airline in February examined ``literally every plane, every route,'' said Anthony J. Broderick, the agency's associate administrator for regulation and certification.
Late Sunday, Broderick said that a seven-day checkup on the airline scheduled for the following week has been moved up, beginning today, and will be extended to a full month. He also said the FAA would evaluate ValuJet's heavy maintenance operations and send dozens of FAA inspectors to the airline's 29 line maintenance facilities where minor repairs are done.
FAA inspectors also will ride in the cockpit of ValuJet planes over the next 30 days to review crew training procedures, use of checklists, dispatching and other areas.
``We welcome the FAA scrutiny,'' ValuJet spokesman Robert Copeland said.
Copeland said reports by ABC that the Department of Defense rejected ValuJet for military contracts in August 1995 because of its safety record were untrue. MEMO: The Associated Press, Virginian-Pilot Staff Writer Tom Holden and the
Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Searchers have been using airboats after the crash of ValuJet 592 in
the Florida Everglades. The boats are one of the few vehicles that
can travel in the swampy, grass-filled waters.
AMONG THE VICTIMS
A Norfolk State graduate's mother, Whilhelmina Perry Oliver, was on
board Valujet Flight 592. For A LIST OF PASSENGERS, please see page
A8.
San Diego Chargers running back Rodney Culver of Woodstock, Ga., was
on board the ValuJet flight with his wife, Karen.
Marlo Balandran, 26, of Topeka, Kan., shown here in a January photo,
was the reigning Miss Petite USA.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eleanor and Bob Emick of Plymouth, Mich., mourn their daughter,
Donna Rennolds, and grandchild, Kim, who were passengers Saturday on
the Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT PLANE FATALITIES VALUJET by CNB