ValuJet Flight 592 could have been saved if it had fire detection and suppression equipment in its forward cargo hold, the National Transportation Safety Board was told Tuesday.
"The fundamental problem was lack of fire detection and suppression," said Merrit Birky, the board's fire expert. If the systems had been in place, the crew would have had time to land the plane safely, he said.The May 11, 1996, crash in the Florida Everglades killed 110 people.
The fire has been blamed on a cargo of oxygen generators. Birky showed a video of a test fire involving similar generators in which temperatures soared to 3,000 degrees in 10 minutes.
The ValuJet crash came about 11 minutes after takeoff from Miami when, he said, the fire burned through the ceiling of the cargo compartment into the passenger area and damaged electrical wiring.
Family members of those killed in the crash held one another for support and wiped away tears during his presentation.
ValuJet and its contractor SaberTech have pointed the finger of blame at one another over placement of the generators aboard the doomed airplane.
For several years, the board has contended that all airline cargo holds should contain smoke detectors and fire extinguishers and has criticized the FAA for not making them mandatory.
"Had that recommendation been implemented, it's only questionable whether the ValuJet accident would have happened at all," NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said Sunday on NBC-TV.
Only since the disaster has the FAA instituted a rule requiring the cargo detectors and extinguishers, and airlines have until 2001 to complete installation of the equipment.