New Issue Faces Firm Linked to ValuJet Crash
Even as hearings opened last month into the crash of ValuJet Flight 592, whistle-blowers at SabreTech were complaining that a bent pressure probe from a jet was straightened and reinstalled instead of being replaced as required by Boeing.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Department are investigating the complaint, as well as other allegations against the Arizona-based maintenance company.
A load of oxygen generators that was improperly labeled and packaged by SabreTech at its Miami maintenance hangar is suspected of causing the fire that crippled the ValuJet flight on May 11. The plane crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board.
The more recent incident involved a 737-500 that was managed by the leasing firm General Electric Capital Aviation. According to accounts that SabreTech workers and executives gave to the trade magazine Aviation Week and Space Technology:
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The jet was undergoing maintenance last month in Orlando in preparation for delivery to Jet Airways of India.
On Nov. 1, a mechanic removed a pressure-sensing probe from the fan frame and discovered it was bent. It was straightened in SabreTech’s machine shop, and the mechanic was told to reinstall it.
The mechanic put the part back but refused to sign the job card taking responsibility for the work. The lead mechanic signed instead, and the chief inspector stamped the card to indicate the work had been inspected and that it was in accordance with the maintenance manual put out by Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer.
Two workers not involved with the reinstallation wrote an anonymous letter Nov. 18 to General Manager Robert Griswell, the top company official in Orlando.
That same day, the ValuJet crash hearing opened in Miami.
In response to the anonymous letter, Griswell called a staff meeting Nov. 22 to say SabreTech was fully committed to safety, but he also concluded the probe repair was acceptable.
The next day, the mechanic who had reinstalled the probe told the pilots who were to fly the plane of his concern. He also called the FAA’s safety hotline.
SabreTech has since fired the lead mechanic who signed off on the work and the chief inspector who approved the repair has resigned, company spokesman Jim Grandone said Thursday.
