NTSB: Doomed Miami cargo jet not overweight

First victim positively identified

August 9, 1997
Web posted at: 9:57 p.m. EDT (0157 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- A Fine Air cargo jet that slammed into a Miami industrial park Thursday, killing at least five people, was not overweight at the time of the crash, according to records the company provided the National Transportation Safety Board.

NTSB investigators had been looking into whether the jet, carrying a cargo of denim to a factory in the Dominican Republic, might have been overloaded when it crashed after failing to gain enough speed after takeoff.

But at a news conference Saturday, NTSB investigator Robert Benzon said the plane weighed 282,482 pounds at the time of the crash. That's about 33,000 pounds lighter than the maximum weight for a DC-8 in the weather conditions that existed at takeoff, he said.

However, Benzon said the weight of the craft was determined by reviewing company records. He said there is no independent way to determine the weight now that the plane has crashed.

At this point in the probe, Benzon said, "we don't really have any leading theories" as to what caused the plane to stall and fall from the sky shortly after taking off from Miami International Airport.

First victim identified

On Saturday, the first of the five victims of Thursday's disaster was identified.

Renato Alvarez, 34, was in a car taking lunch to his wife, who works in the warehouse district where the crash took place. The four other known victims included the three-person Fine Air crew and a security guard working for the company whose cargo was on the flight.

The plane erupted into a fierce fireball after it hit the ground in a field near Miami International Airport and skidded across busy 72nd Avenue into the parking lot of a strip mall. Several cars were smashed, burned and tossed aside before the plane came to a stop.

Alvarez had been missing since the crash. His charred body was finally found in the debris late Friday, and it was identified using "medical records and distinguishing features," said Metro-Dade police spokesman Rudy Espinosa.

Another person reported in the area at the time of the crash is still missing. Cadaver dogs searched the wreckage Saturday but turned up nothing.

Flight data recorder malfunctioned

Benzon said examination of the data on the plane's "black boxes" showed the plane only reached an altitude of 550 feet before falling to the ground. He said evidence shows the plane "pancaked" flat onto the field and did not hit tail first, as some witnesses said.

One problem that investigators have encountered is that the plane's flight data recorder -- one of the two so called "black boxes" -- was not functioning properly. The recorder takes 11 separate measurements, but investigators have so far had trouble getting good readings in eight of those 11 categories, Benzon said.

The problem is that sensors didn't feed the data into the box. The NTSB has previously urged the Federal Aviation Administration to require older planes, such as the 29-year-old Fine Air DC-8, to upgrade their data-recording devices.

Investigators combing the wreckage for clues are still calling the area a "high hazard area," according to the Metro-Dade Police Department. With razor sharp pieces of debris scattered over the scene, workers in biohazard suits are trying to make the scene safer so NTSB investigators can work.

Bulldozers were brought in to help clear rubble. The plane's four engines may be moved to a hangar for further study Sunday morning, with other large pieces of debris moved later in the day, Benzon said.

Correspondent Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

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