Everglades National Park

The single engine airplane landed last October at Dade-Collier Airport, in the center of the Everglades National Park, following a flight from Sancti Spíritus, Cuba. The pilot defected Cuba and landed safely in the US. On November 14, in unclear circumstances, maybe while being transferred to Opa Locka Airport, the airplane crashed in a marshy area located 25 km west of Opa Locka Airport. Both occupants were uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

ValuJet Flight 592 was a scheduled flight from Miami (MIA) to Atlanta (ATL). The inbound flight had been delayed and arrived at Miami at 13:10. Flight 592 had been scheduled to depart at 13:00. The cruising altitude was to be flight level 350 with an estimated time en route of 1 hour 32 minutes. The DC-9 was loaded with 4,109 pounds of cargo (baggage, mail, and company-owned material (COMAT)). The COMAT consisted of two main tires and wheels, a nose tire and wheel, and five boxes that were described as "Oxy Cannisters -‘Empty.’" This cargo was loaded in the forward cargo compartment. Flight 592 was pushed back from the gate shortly before 13:40. The DC-9 then taxied to runway 09L. At 14:03:24, ATC cleared the flight for takeoff and the flightcrew acknowledged the clearance. At 14:04:24, the flightcrew was instructed by ATC to contact the north departure controller. At 1404:32, the first officer made initial radio contact with the departure controller, advising that the airplane was climbing to 5,000 feet. Four seconds later, the departure controller advised flight 592 to climb and maintain 7,000 feet. The first officer acknowledged the transmission. At 14:07:22, the departure controller instructed flight 592 to "turn left heading three zero zero join the WINCO transition climb and maintain one six thousand," which was acknowledged. At 14:10:03, the flight crew heard a sound, after which the captain remarked, "What was that?" At that moment, the airplane was at 10,634 feet msl, 260 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS), and both engine pressure ratios (EPRs) were 1.84. At 14:10:15, the captain stated, "We got some electrical problem," followed 5 seconds later with, "We’re losing everything." At 14:10:21, the departure controller advised flight 592 to contact Miami on frequency 132.45 mHz. At 14:10:22, the captain stated, "We need, we need to go back to Miami," followed 3 seconds later by shouts in the background of "fire, fire, fire, fire." At 14:10:27, the CVR recorded a male voice saying, "We’re on fire, we’re on fire." At 14:10:28, the controller again instructed flight 592 to contact Miami Center. At 14:10:31, the first officer radioed that the flight needed an immediate return to Miami. The controller replied, "Critter five ninety two uh roger turn left heading two seven zero descend and maintain seven thousand." The first officer acknowledged the heading and altitude. The peak altitude reached was 10,879 feet msl at 14:10:31, and about 10 seconds a wings-level descent started. Shouting in the cabin subsided. The controller then queried flight 592 about the nature of the problem. The captain stated "fire" and the first officer replied, "uh smoke in the cockp... smoke in the cabin." The controller responded, "roger" and instructed flight 592, when able, to turn left to a heading of two five zero and to descend and maintain 5,000 feet. At 14:11:12, a flight attendant was heard shouting, "completely on fire." The DC-9 began to change heading to a southerly direction and at 14:11:26, the north departure controller advised the controller at Miami Center that flight 592 was returning to Miami with an emergency. At 14:11:37, the first officer transmitted that they needed the closest available airport. At 1411:41, the controller replied, "Critter five ninety two they’re gonna be standing (unintelligible) standing by for you, you can plan runway one two when able direct to Dolphin [a navaid] now." At 14:11:46, the first officer responded that the flight needed radar vectors. At 14:11:49, the controller instructed flight 592 to turn left heading one four zero. The first officer acknowledged the transmission. At 14:12:45, the controller transmitted, "Critter five ninety two keep the turn around heading uh one two zero." There was no response from the flightcrew. The last recorded FDR data showed the airplane at 7,200 feet msl, at a speed of 260 KIAS, and on a heading of 218 degrees. At 14:12:48, the FDR stopped recording data. The airplane’s radar transponder continued to function; thus, airplane position and altitude data were recorded by ATC after the FDR stopped. At 14:13:18, the departure controller instructed, "Critter five ninety two you can uh turn left heading one zero zero and join the runway one two localizer at Miami." Again there was no response. At 14:13:27, the controller instructed flight 592 to descend and maintain 3,000 feet. At 1413:37, an unintelligible transmission was intermingled with a transmission from another airplane. No further radio transmissions were received from flight 592. At 14:13:43, the departure controller advised flight 592, "Opa Locka airport’s about 12 o’clock at 15 miles." The accident occurred at 14:13:42. Ground scars and wreckage scatter indicated that the airplane crashed into the Everglades in a right wing down, nose down attitude.

The flight from New York-JFK was uneventful and the crew started the descent to Miami-Intl Airport by night and good weather conditions. On approach, the captain instructed 'gear down' but all three green lights failed to illuminate properly. The second officer was instructed to enter the forward electronics bay but the problem could not be resolved. The crew informed ATC about the situation and was cleared to climb to 2,000 feet. The crew then discussed to try to find a solution but failed to realize that the airplane was continuing to descend. When a warning sounded in the cockpit indicating a +/- 250 feet deviation from the selected altitude, none of the crew members react to the warning sound and no action was taken. At 2341LT, the crew was instructed by ATC to turn heading 180 and a minute later, the first officer realized that something was wrong with the altitude. Seven seconds later, while turning in a left angle of 28°, the left engine struck the ground then the aircraft crashed in the Everglades National Park, about 20 miles short of runway threshold, and disintegrated on impact. 77 people were rescued while 99 others were killed, among them five crew members. More than a week later, two survivors died from their injuries.

The aircraft arrived in Miami at 1240, following a routine flight from Chicago, Illinois The captain of the inbound flight reported that the only mechanical discrepancy was, "the outflow valves being a little sticky merely made it a little difficult to maintain the pressurization in a smooth manner. "These valves were cleaned, and a leaking rivet at the No. 4 reserve fuel tank was plugged when it was noticed by the mechanic. This was the only maintenance performed during the "turnaround". Flight 705 is regularly scheduled from Miami. to Portland, Oregon, with intermediate stops at Chicago, Illinois and Spokane and Seattle, Washington. The computed takeoff gross weight of 175,784 pounds, and center of gravity (e.g.) of 25 percent mean aerodynamic chord (MAC) were both well within the allowable limits. Prior to departing the ramp at 1325, the crew asked the ground controller about the departure routes being utilized, and he replied that most flights were departing ". . either through a southwest climb or a southeast climb and then back over the top of it. . . "The flight departed Miami with an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) clearance at 1335 In accordance with the pilot's request for a". . . southeast vector "a left turn was rude after takeoff from runway 27L and circuitous routing was utilized in conjunction with radar vectors from Miami Departure Control, to avoid *** of anticipated turbulence associated with thunderstorm activity (See Attachment A). A similar departure pattern had been previously flown by another flight Subsequently, while maintaining 5,000 feet and a heading of 300 degrees, Flight 705 requested clearance to climb to a higher altitude. Following a discussion between the flight and the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) radar departure controller about the storm activity, and while clearance to climb was being coordinated with the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), the flight advised "Ah-h we're in the clear now. We can see it out ahead . . . looks pretty bad." At 1343, Flight 705 was cleared to climb to flight level 2/ 250 (FL250). They responded, "OK ahhh, we'll make a left turn about thirty degrees here and climb. . "The controller asked of 270 degree was their selected climbout heading, and they replied that this would take them". . . out in the open again". . Accordingly, clearance was granted. Following some discussion about the severity of the turbulence, which was described as moderate to heavy, the flight advised, "OK, you better run the rest of them off the other way then." At 1345 radar service was terminated and control of Flight 705 was transferred to Miami ARTCC. When the flight did not establish radio communication with ARTCC on the initial frequency, Departure Control provided a secondary frequency, and instructed the flight to turn to a heading of 360 degrees which was acknowledged. When Miami ARTCC requested position and altitude, the flight replied, "We're just out of seventeen five (17,500 feet) and standby on the DME one." This transmission ended at 1348, and was the last known communication with Flight 705 The voice transmissions emanating from the flight were made by the first officer. Witnesses in the area reported that a loud explosion had occurred in the air, and several felt a subsequent ground tremor. They also reported that heavy rain had been failing in the area. One witness, in company with five other persons, was seven miles south of the main wreckage site She heard the sound of an explosion which had no echo. When she looked in that direction she saw an orange ball of flame in the edge of a cloud. As she directed the attention of her companions toward this flame, it dropped straight down, becoming a streak, and disappeared behind trees. Shortly after the disappearance a second sound was heard. Statements were received from the crews of four other flights operating in the Miami area at the approximate time of the accident. The first, in a large jet which approached Miami from the west at 7,000 feet, reported the weather as ". . . in and out of broken clouds and light rain showers with light turbulence. Darker heavy shower activity was observed to the (south) of course. We observed no small cells on our radar scope. . only a broad rain area. . . "Another crew, in a four-engine aircraft, departed Miami at 1318, via a departure pattern similar to that which Flight 705 later followed. They described the worst turbulence as". medium to moderate . . . "from west of the airport to north of the Miami VORTAC .3/ They were maintaining 5,000 feet at the time. A third crew in a 720B was folding southeast of Miami at 13,000 feet. They observed numerous rain cells on radar in the Miami area and encountered light ice at this altitude. The fourth crew, also flying a large jet, taxied out shortly after Flight 705 but delayed takeoff for nearly an hour because of the weather. The weather in the Miami area at the time of the accident was characterized by a pre-frontal squall line approximately 250 miles in length, oriented on a northeast-southwest line immediately northwest of Miami (See Attachment A). The U. S. Weather Bureau (USWB) radar observation at Miami at 1344 indicated a broken area of thunderstorms associated with this line, with cells two to twenty miles in diameter, and tops of detectable moisture at 30,000 feet. The line was moving southeast at eight knots, and moderate rain showers were occurring at the station. The 0600 and 1800 Miami radiosonde ascents showed the freezing level to have been at 11,100 and 12,400 feet m.s.1., respectively. SIGMET 4/ No. 3 prepared by the USWB at Miami, valid from 0900-1300, forecast moderate to severe turbulence 5/ in thunderstorms, with a chance of extreme turbulence in heavier thunderstorms. This advisory was called to the attention of the crew of Flight 705 by the operations agent at Miami, and was attached to their dispatch papers. SIGMET No. 4, valid from 1300-1700, was not received until approximately 1315, after the crew of Flight 705 had left the operations office. It forecast moderate to severe turbulence, but deleted the reference to extreme turbulence indicated in SIGMET No 3. Since the dispatcher for this flight is stationed in Minneapolis, the physical Limitations involved made it difficult to apprise the crew of this latest advisory prior to their taxi time of 1325. The aircraft was completely destroyed by impact forces and all 43 occupants have been killed.