Searchers recover ValuJet cockpit voice recorder
Investigators say evidence pointing to fire is stronger
May 26, 1996
Web posted at: 11:10 p.m. EDTMIAMI (CNN) -- Searchers pulled ValuJet Flight 592's cockpit voice recorder from the Florida Everglades Sunday afternoon.
National Transportation Safety Board chief investigator Greg Feith said that the discovery of the recorder, one of two so-called "black boxes" on commercial jetliners, was "one big part of the puzzle."
"This is a key part that we've been looking for for the last two weeks," he said. "This is going to answer a lot of questions for us. That's if the box was working properly and if the information on the recorder is good."
NTSB officials loaded the voice recorder into a cooler of water to keep it stabilized after two weeks in the swamp, and shipped it to Washington for analysis. Investigators expected to know by late Sunday if the data on the recorder is usable, but were not likely to release any information until Monday.
"I said a short prayer and said 'God, I haven't prayed for you to help us find this box. It was just a couple of seconds break and right from there, on my next probe, I hit it."
-- Metro-Dade homicide Sergeant Felix Jimenez
The DC-9's flight data recorder, the other "black box," was recovered May 13. The data flow from that piece of equipment ended when the plane was still at 7,000 feet.
The voice recorder was found by Metro-Dade homicide Sergeant Felix Jimenez, who was diving shoulder-to-shoulder with other divers Sunday afternoon. The box was in about 18 inches of water, Jimenez said, and half buried in mud. (596K AIFF or WAV sound)
"I said a short prayer and said 'God, I haven't prayed for you to help us find this box,'" Jimenez said. "It was just a couple of seconds break and right from there, on my next probe, I hit it."
Also Sunday, the NTSB said that searchers had found more evidence of a fire in the forward cargo hold of the aircraft. The newly recovered evidence supports the theory that such a fire -- possibly originating with oxygen generator canisters in the cargo hold -- caused the crash.
Feith said about 40 percent of the aircraft has been recovered, including portions of two suspicious oxygen generators and some obviously fire-damaged pieces of the plane.
"Not just smoke or soot," Feith said. "It does have actual fire damage."
Feith described a seat frame with "fire damage from molten aluminum" and fire-damaged pieces of the forward cargo hold's fiberglass liner.
Other pieces of the plane from within the cabin were covered with soot, indicating the cabin was filled with "heavy black smoke," Feith said.
Related stories:
- Stronger evidence points to possible fire aboard ValuJet - May 26, 1996
- A new theory: burned steering cables - May 26, 1996
- Investigators identify 8 ValuJet crash victims - May 25, 1996
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