Word: valujet
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Every time a commercial airliner meets up with disaster, the flying public is forced to confront dangers it never even knew existed--remember microbursts and wind shear?--and the airlines scramble to alter policies, upgrade technology or retrain their pilots. In the case of the May 11 crash of ValuJet Flight 592, which plunged into the muck of the Everglades and killed all 110 people on board, the safety concerns are so varied--and the questions emerging about the role of the Federal Aviation Administration in regulating low-cost airlines so troubling--that it may be a while before passengers...
...Although ValuJet is not authorized to carry hazardous materials, the cargo manifest noted that this particular five-box shipment, destined for the company's Atlanta headquarters, was empty. In fact, there may have been a misunderstanding--what National Transportation Safety Board investigator Greg Feith has called "a terminology problem"--and possibly a fatal one: the canisters may not all have been empty; they may have merely exceeded their shelf life. Though no generators have yet been found, pieces of the salvaged wreckage, including a singed cockpit life preserver and two sooty steps from near the cockpit, indicate there...
Even if this particular tragedy can be characterized as human error, however, the crash has laid bare ValuJet's uneven safety record. Since its start-up in October 1993, the airline has had more than 284 "service difficulties," according to the FAA, such as a plane rolling off the runway because of worn brakes. In the first five weeks of 1996, the carrier experienced four "incidents," as the FAA terms them: a hard landing and tail strike, a nose wheel that strayed off the runway when the crew could not see taxi lights, an aircraft that skidded...
...airline has experienced a long sequence of nonfatal mishaps. In January 1994 a ValuJet DC-9 skidded off an icy runway in Washington, forcing the closure of the airport. Last June the crew of a ValuJet DC-9 taxiing in preparation for takeoff from Atlanta heard a loud bang as an engine failed, scattering shrapnel that injured seven passengers and causing a fire that spread to the fuselage. Within 90 seconds smoke had engulfed the passenger compartment. The crew's prompt evacuation of the passengers drew praise from a controller who watched the scene through binoculars--but also caused...
...began its most recent review in February, after a rash of minor mishaps. In one incident, a jet arriving in Nashville landed with such force its landing gear collapsed. The agency found ValuJet to be in full compliance with regulations but expressed concern about pilot training and maintenance. Last week's ill-fated DC-9, which Jordan said was built in 1969, had passed an inspection...