Families To Remember ValuJet 592 Victims
MIAMI (CBS4) -- They lost sons and daughters, husbands and wives. Lives were turned upside down by what should have been a simple plane ride fifteen years ago Wednesday. Instead, families were torn apart when ValuJet flight 592 plunged into the muck of the Florida Everglades at 2:15 that Saturday afternoon. Wednesday, the families of those lost are gathering in Miami to remember.
There's a remembrance ceremony scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Valujet Memorial Monument, 110 concrete pillars placed at the edge of the Everglades pointing to the crash site miles away. It's located just off Tamiami Trail about 12 miles west of Krome Avenue. The memorial was dedicated three years after the Atlanta-bound DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Everglades.
The family members have always drawn strength from each other since the day they met for the first time, in a waiting room opened by ValuJet as a haven while they awaited news from the crash site back in 1996. The news was the worst it could be. All 104 passengers and the entire crew died in the crash. A total of 110 people.
As tough as these anniversaries are, family members have said in the past that the legacy left behind by the crash eases their pain just a bit. The National Transportation safety Board determined ValuJet 592 crashed after oxygen generation canisters, used as part of a plane's emergency oxygen system and carried as cargo in the hold, had not been packed safely for shipment. Those canisters ignited a white hot flame which investigators say doomed the flight.
As a result, the FAA banned the transport of those canisters aboard commercial aircraft, meaning nobody should ever die of the type of accident which doomed their loved ones.
