ValuJet Suspects Surrender to FBI
By JEFF SHAIN, AP
MIAMI (AP), The three men indicted in the deadly 1996 ValuJet crash in the
Everglades surrendered Thursday, with one defendant again saying he was ordered to sign
forms allowing mislabeled oxygen canisters onto the plane.
``It wasn't our call. It wasn't my responsibility,'' said Mauro Valenzuela, who
was a mechanic with the airline maintenance company SabreTech Inc.
Valenzuela, SabreTech mechanic Eugene Florence and Daniel Gonzalez, SabreTech's
former vice president of maintenance, arrived at FBI headquarters, accompanied by their
lawyers. The three later appeared in federal court and were released on bond.
The men are charged with conspiracy and making false statements that led to the
crash that killed 110 people. Investigators say the oxygen canisters, mislabeled as empty,
started a fire in the cargo hold.
``They never thought those used generators would get on an airplane. They should
not have gotten on an airplane. They took steps to keep them off airplanes,'' said Jane
Moscowitz, the lawyer for the two mechanics.
She did not elaborate on what steps they took. Valenzuela reiterated
previous assertions that he had been told to sign the document that allowed the canisters
to be loaded onto the flight by ValuJet employees.
``It wasn't my intent (to falsify documents). I was told to,'' he said before
disappearing into the FBI building. Separately, SabreTech has been charged with
murder and manslaughter for illegally packaging the oxygen canisters, which also were
missing the required yellow safety caps. Each of the three men could be sentenced to
up to 55 years in prison and fined $2.7 million if convicted.
This is believed to be the first time that criminal charges have been filed
against maintenance workers over a U.S. plane crash. Moscowitz called the crash ``a
terrible tragedy'' but said no crime was committed. ``The important thing is they made no
intentional false statement,'' she said. ``There was a whole system of terrible errors
here.''
Gonzalez's lawyer, Robert Dunlap, said: ``We have faith in the system. We look
forward to being exonerated.'' ValuJet changed its name to AirTran after the crash.
SabreTech is no longer in the aircraft maintenance business.
Gonzalez, 54, recently has been working as a maintenance supervisor for American
Airlines in Tulsa, Okla. He has been placed on leave pending resolution of his case,
Dunlap said.
Florence and Valenzuela lost their mechanic certificates in 1997 as a result of
the FAA's review of the crash of Flight 592. Florence, 37, regained his
certification in 1998 and recently left a job as a mechanic in Georgia, Moscowitz said,
although she refused to say whether it involved work on airplanes.
FAA officials said they have no record to indicate Valenzuela, 30, had applied
to have his license reinstated.
