ValuJet

ValuJet is an American airline company low cost which accomplished flight in the south of the the United States. After the crash landing of flight 592 in 1996, a DC-9, implying the safety of the company directly, its managers proceed to rehandlings. The company operates henceforth under the name of AirTran Airways.

History

The company is created in 1993 with 4 million dollars, a ridiculous sum, by Lewis Jordan, with the objective to become the " Walmart of the companies aériennes". The rise of ValuJet is fulgurating. Chaques year these is 20 new planes which come to enrich the fleet, but at the beginning the company acquires only of old apparatuses, primarily McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and some Boeing 737.

The strategy of managment indeed consists in making profit on all the floors, mainly by delegating the tasks to companies of poor quality. The pilots must finance their formation to them-even which costs approximately 10.000 dollars. The restoration of the old bought apparatuses and their maintenance is carried out by a company, SabreTech, which employment of the workmen of Hispanic origin not knowing even to decipher English the technical handbooks of the planes. SabreTech also delegates its activities in order not to have to pay late penalties with ValuJet during the restorations of the apparatuses.

It was the airline company recording also quickly important profits, 21 million dollars in 1994, and when it entered out of purse, it recorded a rise of the value of its actions of more than 400% in one year and half. In October 1995, it orders 50 McDonnell Douglas DC-95 (famous Boeing 717 after the fusion of the 2 manufacturers), becoming it first company low-cost to make the launching of a new apparatus.

The first serious incident arrives on May 8th, 1995: flight 597 interompt its takeoff of Atlanta after the explosion of an engine having damaged the fuselage and caused a fire on board. There will not be fortunately victims but the DC-9 barrel entirely destroyed by the fire. The apparatus had been badly maintained.

In 1996, ValuJet receives a warning of FAA after several incidents: if there were only 15 emergency landings in 1994, there will be of them 57 in 1995 and more than 50 at the beginning of 1996. As of February 1996 the company is obliged to obtain an authorization of the FAA to bring into service a new apparatus (it had arrived any more at no company since the crisis of 1979) and threatens to suspend its certification.

The crash landing of flight 592

This crash landing is surely one of worst of the history of aeronautics within sight of than have undergoes the 110 occupants of the DC-9.

Flight 592 was to ensure the connection Miami - Atlanta on May 11th, 1996. The plane was a 27 year old DC-9, having belonged to Delta Airlines. The commander, Crystallized Kubeck, 35 years was one of the rare women to occupy this station. It added up more than 8900 hours of flight including 1900 on DC-9. With its with dimensions there is Richard Hazen, 52 years, a very experienced copilot having was useful as mechanic and pilot in the US Air Force. There will be no survivors among the 110 people on board.

The plane takes off towards 13:45, with more than three fifteen minutes of delay. Three minutes later, whereas the plane passes the 10.000 feet, a deaf noise resounds in the compartment. 12 seconds later, an electric breakdown puts except services the majority of the instruments, the pilots contact the tower of control immediately and ask to make half-turn. The DC-9 starts its turn when suddenly passengers start to howl " With fire! ". The pilots alert the tower of the presence of smoke in the cockpit, the firemen are alerted and spread themselves on the track of the airport. A few seconds later, the plane disappears from the radars above the Everglades.

The Everglades are almost impracticable marshes sheltering many crocodiles, witnesses saw the plane being made " avaler" by the marshes. If their depth does not exceed 6m, the bottom is composed of a layer of more than 10m of plant in putrefaction and sediment. As much to say that the investigation is announced like particularly difficult. BTSC manages to recover the block boxes: nothing abnormal is recorded until the deaf noise. The recorder presents thereafter completely aberrant values concerning the altitude and the speed which return to the normal thereafter. On the other recorder, one can hear the appalling howls of the passengers.

The investigation is thus directed towards the loading of the compartment: one of the pallets belonging to the airline company comprised 2 inflated wheels of plane and mysterious cases recorded under the name " Oxy Edge-Empty". It proved that they were pirns with oxygen, embarked illegally aboard plane (the transport of oxygen is very regulated). These pirns had been withdrawn various planes of the company by SabreTech, because their deadline of use was exceeded. These quills, which are used to feed the oxygen masks, encumbered the buildings of SabreTech in a hurry to get rid some without wanting to pay the tax of destruction in force in Florida. A technician of SabreTech then packed the quills in cases, without putting the stoppers being used to block their release, and made them embark on board flight 592 for Atlanta where the tax of destruction does not exist.

Several experiments highlighted that while being entrechoquant, the pirns could start involving a strong heat emission. Heat exploded the embarked wheels, at the origin of the deaf noise and of a modification of the pressure having involved the aberrant values of altitude and speed. This sequence of phenomena takes a certain time, and it is extremely probable which the quills started before or during takeoff. The accident would have can be been able to be to prevent if there had been smoke detectors out of compartment (become obligatory following this accident). Thus, shortly after the explosion of the wheels, fire was propagated very quickly at a temperature of more than 2600°C under the feet of the passengers until the line of left crumbles under the eyes of the other howling passengers whereas the remainder of the ground melts gradually.

For the first time of the history of aviation there be criminal continuations against technicians and leaders of SabreTech and ValuJet. The leaders of SabreTech are accused of 110 murders to the 3rd degree, as well as of more than 20 other criminal charges. The leaders of ValuJet only will be little worried. The stoppers which could have prevented that the quills do not start cost 3 hundreds the unit, and the person in charge of the maintenance with SabreTech acknowledged not to have wanted to order them in spite of the request of a technician.

After crash landing

June 17th, 1996, the FAA prohibits the ValuJet flights. They will begin again only in September with only 15 apparatuses out of the 52 which comprises the companies. In spite of the crash landing, the ValuJet actions will take 25% of rise the day of the first new vol. But in November the company posts 55 million dollars of loss following the crash landing. The worsening problems financier, in 1997 ValuJet amalgamates with AirTran Airways. ValuJet dipsaraît for oppérer under the name of AirTran.

Never a crash landing had tarnished the name of a company as much, and the families of the victims were offusquées to note that separately the name, well little thing changed.

Bonds

Chronology of the air crashes
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