ValuJet Not Authorized for Hazardous Cargo, FAA Says

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that ValuJet was not legally permitted to transport hazardous materials, such as oxygen generators, on its airliners, as its cargo manifest says were aboard the DC-9 that crashed Saturday in the Everglades.

In a press conference, the agency said that the airline was “neither authorized nor equipped to do so” and in fact had specifically elected not to seek certification for carrying such materials when it originally was approved as a full-fledged passenger carrier.

The announcement was significant because, while investigators have not yet found oxygen generators at the crash site, they said that there are growing indications of an explosion in the DC-9 just before it crashed and the oxygen generators could be a cause.

If the DC-9 did carry the oxygen generators in its hold, ValuJet could have been in violation of FAA regulations. To qualify for transporting hazardous materials, it would have to provide special training for its crews and ensure that the material was properly packed.

The developments came as investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board announced that the death toll had risen to 110 as investigators found the body of a baby who had not been listed on the manifest, but apparently was being held on a passenger’s lap.

It is common practice among U.S. airlines not to require tickets for infants who are being carried in the arms of an adult passenger and not to list them on the manifest. Investigators said that they had been unable to identify the baby.

At the same time, news agencies reported that two ValuJet aircraft were forced to return to Atlanta on Wednesday after developing mechanical problems. One apparently was seen spewing a fluid and the other apparently experienced an electrical problem.

Also Wednesday, the FAA, under pressure to tighten its scrutiny of ValuJet, intensified its safety investigation of the airline, announcing that it will step up inspections of the company’s airliners.

David Hinson, the agency’s administrator, said that from now on FAA officials will conduct in-flight inspections of each ValuJet plane at least once a week and will inspect every aircraft on the morning after it has undergone overnight maintenance.

They also will conduct comprehensive reinspections of all ValuJet airport maintenance facilities. And they will reexamine all reports of mechanical problems on ValuJet planes for the last 12 months to make sure that the company has corrected the problem.

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Hinson told a press conference that “any ValuJet plane which fails to meet every regulatory requirement will be taken out of service” immediately until the FAA is satisfied.

On Sunday, the agency announced that it would begin a 30-day review of all ValuJet operations in an effort to ensure that the company meets FAA safety regulations. Wednesday’s actions were designed to intensify and focus that effort.

NTSB investigators Wednesday continued the grim job of trying to find and remove pieces of the wreckage from the Everglades marsh where the DC-9 airliner crashed. Among the items recovered Wednesday were the cockpit crew’s flight bags and a log book.

Sources close to the investigation said that readings from the airliner’s flight-data recorder--known popularly as the plane’s “black box”--retrieved on Monday suggested that the plane went down after an explosion that sent it plunging into the marsh.

The theory stems from information on the plane’s flight-data recorder showing that the aircraft experienced a sudden drop in altitude and airspeed about 10 minutes after it took off from Miami International Airport--a time when the FAA’s own ground radar shows no such dip.

Investigators speculated that the flight-data recorder could have been skewed if the aircraft had been hit by a sudden increase in pressure inside the plane--the kind of rise that could be created by a minor explosion in the hold.

NTSB Vice Chairman Robert Francis said that investigators were looking into the possibility that if there were a fire in the cargo hold, one or more of the oxygen generators--or possibly some rubber tires, which the airliner also was carrying in its bay--may have exploded.

The manifest for Flight 592 showed that the plane likely was carrying between 55 and 60 oxygen generators, packed in cylindrical, stainless-steel canisters measuring about 8 inches long and 4 inches in diameter.

Although the chemicals contained in the cylinders are not likely to explode by themselves, experts said that they would easily fuel a conflagration that was set off by something else, such as a spark from a faulty wire.

Francis stressed again Wednesday that the fire-and-explosion scenario is only a possibility, and that investigators still have not found any firm evidence to confirm the theory.

He said that divers were continuing to comb the opaque depths of the Everglades marsh where the plane came down trying to find Flight 592’s other “black box,”--a cockpit voice-recorder that could provide important additional evidence by revealing the pilots’ conversations just before the crash.

Investigators said that they did not know how the canisters were packaged or whether the DC-9’s cargo hold was equipped with a fire- and smoke-detection system. The canisters are classified as hazardous material.

The manifest indicated that the generators had exhausted their shelf-life and were being returned to ValuJet headquarters in Atlanta, presumably to be discarded or refilled. There was no indication how much hazardous material they contained.

The generators normally are installed in the main section of an aircraft and used to supply oxygen to masks that drop from overhead luggage racks should a plane experience a sudden drop in cabin pressure.

The oxygen is produced by a reaction between a series of chemicals in the canister, triggered by a spring-loaded hammer that is released when the passenger tugs on the hose that is attached to the oxygen mask.

The NTSB says that the reaction generates temperatures as high as 430 degrees but the heat is contained by special shields that are installed when the canisters are put into place for service. When the canisters are carried as cargo, the shields sometimes are left unused.

The FAA currently has stringent rules for the proper handling and packaging of hazardous materials. Officials said that violators could face a range of civil--and possibly criminal--penalties, depending on the circumstances.

In describing the regulators’ plans to intensify their inspections of ValuJet planes, the FAA’s Hinson said that the heightened safety measures should not be considered a sign that inspectors had discovered additional problems involving the Atlanta-based carrier.

Pine reported from Washington and Malnic from Miami.

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Hazardous Cargo

Investigators are focusing on a possible explosion aboard ValuJet Flight 592 after learning the plane carried dozens of old oxygen generators and finding parts of the wreckage that appear to be damaged by fire.

In the cargo hold:

50 to 60 emergency oxygen generators and three inflated airplane tires.

About the canisters:

They hold two chemicals that combine to create oxygen for cabin masks. The canisters, the size of a tennis ball can, were past their shelf life and were being taken to ValuJet headquarters in Atlanta. The tires belonged to another airline.

Sources: Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft, Miami Herald, Associated Press, Douglas Aircraft