 N904VJ, the accident aircraft, May 1995 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 11, 1996 |
| Summary | In-flight fire leading to loss of control |
| Site | Florida Everglades, Miami-Dade County, Florida, U.S. 25°54′47″N 80°34′41″W / 25.91306°N 80.57806°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 |
| Operator | ValuJet Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | J7592 |
| ICAO flight No. | VJA592 |
| Call sign | Critter 592 |
| Registration | N904VJ |
| Flight origin | Miami International Airport |
| Destination | William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport |
| Occupants | 110 |
| Passengers | 105 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 110 |
| Survivors | 0 |
ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami to Atlanta. On May 11, 1996, the ValuJet Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the route crashed into the Florida Everglades about ten minutes after departing Miami as a result of a fire in the cargo compartment probably caused by mislabeled and improperly stored hazardous cargo. All 110 people on board were killed.[1][2]
ValuJet, a low-cost carrier, already had a poor safety record before the crash, and the accident brought widespread attention to the airline's problems. Its fleet was grounded for several months after the accident. When operations resumed, the airline was unable to attract as many customers as it had before the accident. The airline acquired AirTran Airways in 1997, but the lingering damage to the ValuJet brand led its executives to assume the AirTran name. It is the deadliest plane crash in Florida as of 2024[update].
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ntsbwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 N904VJ Everglades, FL". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2020.