Although the National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the crash of Flight 592 is not yet complete, at least one suspected contributing factor in the accident was the presence of 144 oxygen generators loaded into the forward cargo compartment of the DC-9.

Oxygen generators are considered to be a hazardous material when transported as cargo, and have since been banned from aircraft cargo holds not equipped with fire or smoke detectors.

Meanwhile, every day, thousands of shipments of other hazardous materials -- from flammable liquids to radioactive materials -- travel the nation's skies, often under the passenger compartments of commercial airlines.

According to a Data Points review of Department of Transportation incident reports, such shipments rarely cause injury, and prior to ValuJet Flight 592, caused only two fatal accidents, killing four people, since 1971.

Those reports show that since 1990, 3,851 hazardous materials "accidents" or "incidents" have been reported by 68 of the nation's air carriers. The majority of problems involved cargo companies such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service.

Among the most serious mishaps:

• Eight aircraft were forced to make unscheduled landings, including two emergency landings.
• 13 on-board fires were reported

Experts say the majority of mishaps are caused by mislabeling, or improper packaging of materials. They also blame passengers for packing dangerous goods in their luggage. Fireworks, gasoline containers, even a leaking chain saw have been discovered in luggage compartments, according to incident reports.

In an effort to improve safety, the NTSB is urging the FAA to evaluate the practices and training for workers accepting passenger baggage and freight shipments, so that they may better recognize and evaluate any dangers posed by hazardous materials on aircraft.

	The Accident	The Airline	The Investigation
	The Families	The FAA	data points

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