Aviation Warning With Teeth
An unprecedented legal attack on a defunct maintenance firm should get the attention of airline companies that persist in the improper transport of hazardous materials. That could be the most significant effect of federal grand jury indictments and a Florida state prosecution against SabreTech Inc., the maintenance company, and three former low-level employees who have been charged with murder, manslaughter and other offenses.
SabreTech was cited by the National Transportation Safety Board for its role in improperly storing and inaccurately labeling oxygen canisters on ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 on May 11, 1996. Flight 592 caught fire and crashed in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people aboard. Federal investigators said that the fire broke out at the site of the canisters in the cargo hold.
Florida’s case against SabreTech is one of only a handful nationwide in which a corporation has been charged with murder or manslaughter after such a disaster.
Florida prosecutors have filed 110 separate counts each of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and one count of illegal transport of hazardous waste against the company.
The federal indictments carry charges of conspiracy, making false statements, mislabeling and mishandling hazardous material. But SabreTech no longer exists, complicating matters. Its assets were bought by another aviation firm.
The only individuals cited are two mechanics and their supervisor. No company executives were charged. SabreTech attorneys are crying “scapegoat,” given that the federal safety board cited both ValuJet and the Federal Aviation Administration for lax oversight in the crash.
The most lasting outcome might be indirect. Despite the Flight 592 disaster, since May 1996 there have been several incidents in which airliners carried banned and dangerous cargo, including fireworks and leaking containers of flammable substances such as jet fuel. These incidents must cease, and the cases against SabreTech might carry the necessary chilling effect for those who would still move hazardous materials across the nation’s skies.
