Court Throws Out Most ValuJet Convictions
A federal appeals court in Atlanta threw out eight of nine convictions and most of an $11-million penalty against a defunct jet repair company blamed for the 1996 ValuJet crash that killed 110 people.
The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said federal law at the time of the crash did not support SabreTech’s conviction and sentence on eight counts of causing the transportation of hazardous materials.
The 1999 conviction, the first of an aviation company in a U.S. air disaster, came after prosecutors argued the company recklessly supplied the hazardous oxygen generators blamed for the cargo hold fire that caused the Miami-Atlanta flight to crash May 11, 1996, in the Florida Everglades.
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