Jet With 109 Crashes; No Sight Of Survivors -- Miami-To-Atlanta Dc- 9 Comes Down In Everglades

MIAMI - An airliner carrying 109 people crashed "like a bullet into the ground" yesterday in the Florida Everglades after the crew reported smoke in the cockpit and tried to return to Miami International Airport.

There was no sign of survivors. Rescue efforts in the waist-high swamp were hampered by aviation fuel covering the crash site and concerns about alligators and snakes.

There were few recognizable parts of the DC-9 operated by ValuJet Airlines Inc., a young carrier that has had several recent runway accidents and is being inspected by the FAA. Rescue crews found pieces of the plane measuring up to six feet.

Some rescuers had reported seeing bodies. But a rescuer who returned from the site later said he had seen none. Workers called off their search late last night and planned to resume at daybreak today. Earlier, staff from the county medical examiner's office used infrared devices to look for bodies.

"I felt the most emotional when I saw a family album floating on the water and it was a mother and child," said Fire-Rescue Lt. Chris Aguirre, one of the first at the scene. He said he also saw baby clothes and a floating seat from the DC-9.

Aerial video shots showed what appeared to be debris spread over a region of the Everglades, an area of desolate, swampy grasslands stretching across much of southern Florida.

Private pilot Daniel Muelhaupt was flying nearby when he saw the plane go down.

"The way it went into the ground, the way it crashed, it shot like a bullet into the ground," he told CNN. "When it hit the ground, the water and dirt flew up. The wreckage was like if you take your garbage and just throw it on the ground, it looked like that."

The jetliner, en route to Atlanta, was carrying 104 passengers and a crew of five, said airlines president Lewis Jordan. The plane was at about 10,500 feet and about 100 miles west of Miami when the pilot reported the smoke. The jet was in the air about eight minutes, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The pilot tried to fly back to Miami and went down about 20 miles northwest of the airport. The weather was sunny with a few clouds.

Flight 592 indicated at 2:15 p.m. that it would return to the airport, Jordan said at a news conference from the airline's Atlanta headquarters. Miami traffic control said the plane went off radar at 2:25 p.m.

The jet was about 25 years old and was last inspected on Tuesday, Jordan said.

"There's no concern that the engine is in any way suspected at this time," he said. He said there were no tapes available yet of the cockpit's conversation with the tower.

"All our thoughts and prayers and our sincere emotions go out to the people on board the airplane. . . . It's impossible to put into words how devastating this is to people who care," Jordan said.

ValuJet's number for family information is 1-800-486-4346.

Muelhaupt said the plane was pointing down about 75 degrees and that he first thought it was a small plane doing maneuvers. He said he radioed authorities and circled until they reached the scene.

Chris Osceola, who was bass fishing nearby, also saw the plane dive into the water.

"I said, `It's gonna crash! It's gonna crash!' And then, boom!" he told the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale.

"It was like it never happened," said Sam Nelson, Osceola's uncle, who climbed a levee to view the wreckage. "You couldn't see anything."

A Coast Guard H-60 helicopter, just finishing a mock rescue demonstration at an air show near Fort Lauderdale, flew to the crash scene.

"We saw a lot of shoes, different shoes. We saw clothes, all different colors. We saw suitcases, but nothing big," said Lt. Cmdr. Mark Feldman, a pilot of the helicopter. "The biggest thing we saw was a part of the engine and a tire."

So did those aboard more than two dozen airboats, about 100 police and firefighters. Authorities included a crew of divers, who collected clothes, papers and scraps of paper.

From a helicopter 1,000 feet in the sky, the site lacked obvious signs of an airline disaster. Only a few pieces of debris floated among the sawgrass, scorched and stained with aviation fuel.

From a command post along U.S. 41, the Tamiami Trail, helicopters whisked rescue workers and investigators to and from the crash site, about seven miles north.

"We don't expect anyone to walk out of here alive," said George Bartolome, a Metro Dade Fire-Rescue worker returning from the site.

President Clinton issued a statement from the White House offering his condolences.

"All Americans join Hillary and me in offering our hopes and prayers to the families and friends of those aboard the ValuJet that has so tragically crashed near the Miami airport. Although we fear the worst, we are hoping and praying for their safety," Clinton said.

Clinton asked Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and FAA Administrator David Hinson to personally inspect the accident scene.

National Transportation Safety Board vice chairman Robert Francis said late yesterday that the task of determining what caused the crash will be made more difficult because of the harsh terrain.

"This will not be the friendliest environment to do an accident investigation," Francis said at a news conference in Miami.

ValuJet quickly escorted relatives in Miami and Atlanta to private areas where they were told news of the crash and were offered counseling.

One woman sitting at a gate in Atlanta was waiting for her sister to arrive. She said she didn't know any details.

"I don't know. I'm trying to find out," she said, wiping tears from her face.

Atlanta businessman Terry Huckabee was scheduled to take Flight 592 but missed it.

"I lost a dollar in the vending machine and I said, `I'm having a bad day,' Huckabee said. "They said, `No, you're the luckiest man alive. It's lucky you missed your flight.' "

The crash was reminiscent of an Eastern airlines L 1011 jetliner that went down in the Everglades on Dec. 29, 1972, killing 101 of 176 people aboard.

The last major crash of a large plane was Sept. 8, 1994, when a USAir jetliner crashed on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, killing all 132 people on board.

Compiled from Associated Press and Knight-Ridder News Service reports.

------------------------------------ PARTIAL LIST OF THOSE ON FLIGHT 592: ------------------------------------

PASSENGERS:

Isabel Anderson, Cookeville, Tenn.; Leslie Archibald, Opa-Locka, Fla.; Giuseppe Bafunno, Blackwood, N.J.; Marlo Balandran, Kansas City, Mo.; Thomas Balandran, Kansas City, Mo.; Jen Barreiro, Miami; Herbert Bell, Elkwood, Va.; Peggy Bell, Elkwood, Va.; Terri Bell, Miami; Frances Brown, Baltimore; Lynn Brown, Rose Hill, N.C.; Joe Burnett, Shawnee Mission, Kan.; Cecelia Cabrera, Miami; Ronald Carpenter, Murphreesboro, Tenn.; Lisa Carrolton, Conyers, Ga.; Edna Crye, Richmond, Ind.; Ken Crye, Richmond, Ind.; Karen Culver, Woodstock, Ga.; Rodney Culver, Woodstock, Ga.; Bradley Ehrlichman; Betsy Favaro, Duluth, Ga.; Franko Favaro, Duluth, Ga.; Laura Favaro, Duluth, Ga.; Charles Fluitt, Miami; Elizabeth Gabriel, Mooresville, N.C.; Deana Gabr, Conyers, Ga.; Pamela Gabr, Conyers, Ga.; Carlos Gonzalez, Alpharetta, Ga.; Angie Green, Nashville; Mark Griner, Marietta, Ga.; Steve Guiler, Buford, Ga.; Conway Hamilton, Miami; Laurie Hamilton, Miami; Carol Hanchey, Conyers, Ga.; John Hanchey, Conyers, Ga.; Elaine Hayman, Columbus, Ohio; Robert Hayman, Columbus, Ohio; Michael Howard, Hialeah, Fla.; Walter Hyatt, Nashville; Dan Jarvis, Gastonia, N.C.; Linda Jarvis, Gastonia, N.C.; Kathleen Kessler, Atlanta; Ison Kim, Shawnee Mission, Kan.; Rafael Lameda, Cookeville, Tenn.; Dana Lane, Alpharetta, Ga.; Roger Lane, Alpharetta, Ga.; Ray Lathem, Alpharetta, Ga.; Andrew Leonard, Cloverdale, Ind.; Jeremy Leonard, Cloverdale, Ind.; Tabitha Leonard, Cloverdale, Ind.; Betty McLemore, Tybee Island, Ga.; Clark McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.; Judy McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.; Laura McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.; Lindsey McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.; Neil McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.; Judy Medeiros, Rex, Ga.; Robert Medeiros, Rex, Ga.; Ella Mitchell, Miami; Andrew Nevil, Raleigh, N.C.; Whilhelmina Oliver, Athens, Ga.; Lisa Pearson, Kansas City, Mo.; Laurese Perkins, Miami; David Quinones; Elida Ramirez, Dunwoody, Ga.; Donna Rennolds, Whittaker, Mich.; Kim Rennolds, Ypsilanti, Mich.; Howard Rietz, Mount Juliet, Tenn.; Terri Rugg, Richmond, Ind.; Dennis Sabo, Auburn, Ala.; Ana Sanchez, Metairie, La.; Karin Shier, Savannah, Ga.; Vi Shier, Fayetteville, Ga.; Ailven Shotwell, College Park, Ga.; Jarvis Shotwell, College Park, Ga.; Paul Smith, Montgomery, Ala.; Joulaun Snowden; Hugh Stanley, Gainesville, Ga.; Louise Stanley, Gainesville, Ga.; Fred Steinbrener, Acworth, Ga.; Jerrold Thompson, Kansas City, Mo.; Roosevelt Tillman, Lynchburg, Va.; Lila Viloleta, Alpharetta, Ga.; Delmarie, Walker, Erie, Pa.; James Weimer, Cloverdale, Ind.; Janice Weimer, Cloverdale, Ind.; Teresa Wilson, Tybee Island, Ga.; Robert Woodus, Upper Marlboro, Md.

CREW

Captain, name withheld; First Officer Richard Hazen, Mineola, Texas; Flight attendant Jennifer Stearns, Farmers Branch, Texas; flight attendant Mandy Summers, Irving, Texas; flight attendant, name withheld.

Associated Press