FBI offering $10,000 reward for mechanic linked to 1996 ValuJet crash

The FBI has been searching for Ociel Valenzuela-Reyes for 20 years, and has now announced a $10,000 reward for information. In 1996 Reyes was a mechanic for SabreTech, and was one of the mechanics that may have been responsible for mishandling oxygen generators, and loading them into the cargo hold of ValuJet 592. The generators were supposed to be empty, and have a safety cap on them.

Shortly after takeoff the crew reported they had indications of a fire in the cargo hold and needed to return to Miami. The aircraft crashed in the Everglades killing all 110 on board. The cause of the crash was traced to the oxygen generators, at least one of which had activated after being loaded, and ignited the packaging around it.

Reyes and two other mechanics faced criminal charges in the crash. The other two were acquitted, but Reyes fled before the trial.

www.miamiherald.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

I wonder what triggered this?
Especially when the other two guys were acquitted.
Is there more to this story than we are seeing?
I may have to look at the passenger list for that flight to see who was on that flight.

a reply to: Zaphod58

WOW! Talk about an old case.

I remember seeing this in the news and all the effort surrounding the recover effort.

I was always surprised at how the plane just disappeared into the swamp.

a reply to: Zaphod58

110 victims of the profit motive.

a reply to: butcherguy

He fled, that's what. Regardless of the other two trials, he fled. He might have been acquitted, he might not have, but he chose to run instead.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: butcherguy

He fled, that's what. Regardless of the other two trials, he fled. He might have been acquitted, he might not have, but he chose to run instead.

Yeah. That is the simple part.... he fled.
I am wondering why they are offering a reward this long afterwards.
Why not offer a reward 10 years ago, or 15 years ago?
I am asking what may have changed.

a reply to: butcherguy

The families are getting impatient. This has been a fairly minor case until now, but family members are getting older and impatient and are demanding they get off their ass and find him.

I would have run, too. Being blamed for standardized sub-standard practices of your company is well, as criminal as the policies themselves.

ValuJet was founded in 1992 and was known for its cost-cutting measures. Many of the airline's planes were purchased used from other airlines, little training was provided to workers, and contractors were used for maintenance and other services. The company quickly developed a reputation for its lax safety. In 1995, the U.S. military refused ValuJet's bid to fly military personnel because of safety worries, and officials at the FAA wanted the airline to be grounded.[2]

In 1986, an American Trans Air McDonnell Douglas DC-10 being serviced at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport had been destroyed on the ground by a fire caused by chemical oxygen generators.[3] In 1988, American Airlines Flight 132 (operated by a McDonnell-Douglas MD-80) had a similar incident to that which later downed ValuJet Flight 592: a fire began in the cargo hold while the plane was in flight, caused by hazardous materials (primarily hydrogen peroxide), but in that case the crew landed the aircraft safely.[4]

After the AA flight 132 incident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended to the FAA that all class D cargo holds have smoke detectors and fire suppression systems.[4]

Seconds later, a flight attendant entered the cockpit and informed the flight crew of a fire in the passenger cabin. Passengers' shouts of "fire, fire, fire" were recorded on the cockpit voice recorder when the cockpit door was opened. Though the ValuJet flight attendant manual stated that the cockpit door should not be opened when smoke or other harmful gases might be present in the cabin, the intercom was disabled and no other way was available to inform the pilots of what was happening.

wiki

So what else ie new?

a reply to: Zaphod58
Over 20 years since he fled, it seems that they must have a lot of patientce.

a reply to: butcherguy

They haven't done anything with the investigation since the accident report, and it's not like he deliberately chose to bring the aircraft down. All indications are that at worst, he ignored the rules for transporting the generators. I never saw anything that indicated anything but negligence.

But now some of the family members are getting pretty old and probably want to see him brought to trial, and are probably thinking they won't be around to see it much longer if they sit around and wait.

Sounds like a weapon of mass distraction. The public is tired of seeing D.B. Cooper's tired carcass trotted out, so they're going with this.

a reply to: Zaphod58

What is the purpose for the generator? Are they used to operate the masks only?

In the event they lose pressurization?

I am not familiar at all with large jets like this.

Added...

I agree with tracking this guy down, there is no room for ooopsies in the industry, there are too many lives on the line.

a reply to: Mandroid7

Yes. When they're installed on the aircraft they activate when the makes deploy. They use a chemical reaction, and run extremely hot. At the time of the ValuJet crash, if they were being transported on aircraft they were supposed to have locking caps installed, to prevent activation, and be secured in containers. These were marked as empty generators, didn't have the caps installed, and were tossed into boxes IIRC.

That's not a lot of money.

a reply to: Zaphod58

From what I read of it, they were duct taped and packed in cardboard boxes with bubble wrap.

a reply to: butcherguy

Which is why there were charges filed.

Thanks to this crash, I got to do one of the strangest loads of my career. We had to take 650 pounds of charged oxygen bottles from Everett, Washington to the XPO that warehouses 787 parts for Boeing in North Charleston, South Carolina.