Word: sabretech
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...high-profile crashes in 1996--ValuJet in Florida and TWA off the coast of New York. Regulators have been increasingly willing to bring criminal charges against airlines and their employees for negligence and deliberate disregard of safety guidelines. Federal prosecutors won a criminal conviction of aircraft-maintenance company SabreTech in December in connection with the hazardous material that allegedly caused the ValuJet crash, which killed 110 people. The same month, American Airlines pleaded guilty to criminal charges--and paid $8 million in fines--for illegal handling of pesticides and other hazardous materials at Miami International Airport. "If felony and prison...
...ValuJet DC-9, the airplane plunged straight down into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people aboard. On Tuesday, Florida prosecutors moved to criminalize the conclusions of air safety investigators: Improperly packaged oxygen canisters ignited the fire that caused the crash. State prosecutors charged the maintenance company, SabreTech, with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, both felonies, because of what they alleged was the unlawful transportation of hazardous waste. A separate federal indictment charged three employees with conspiracy to cover up the problem that led to the accident...
...senior writer Adam Cohen, who follows legal developments. Criminal charges are almost never brought against companies. ?This is clearly an attempt by the authorities to send a strong message that safety rules cannot be taken lightly,? says Cohen. ?Apparently this was a horrendous incident that could have been avoided.? SabreTech officials took exception to the criminal actions. They denied any wrongdoing and vowed a vigorous defense. ?We are not going to stand idly by and be made a criminal scapegoat for this tragedy,? said an attorney for the company. ?This was a horrific accident, not a crime...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The National Transportation Safety Board stuck to its guns today, ruling that ValuJet Flight 592 which plunged into a Florida swamp was brought down by a fire ignited by loaded chemical oxygen generators. The NTSB was even-handed in aportioning blame, saying SabreTech, ValuJet and the FAA are all partially responsible for the disaster, which killed 105 passengers and five crew members last year. According to the report, SabreTech helped cause the accident by failing to properly package and identify the hazardous oxygen generators. ValuJet was slammed for improperly overseeing the maintenance contractor while the FAA was charged...
ValuJet maintenance chief David Gentry said his company accepted blame, but he insisted that it was SabreTech's job to equip the canisters with safety caps and pack the shipment properly. Failure to prevent this incompetence was laid to inspectors for the FAA, who complained that overwork and understaffing had made it tough to oversee the fast-growing ValuJet. Yet an FAA manager said he called for a review of ValuJet's authorization to fly three months before Flight 592 plunged into the Everglades shortly after taking off from Miami. The manager, John Tutora, said his report was ignored...