Doomed Cargo Jet Not Overloaded

Illawarra Mercury

Sunday August 10, 1997

MIAMI.- The cargo plane that crashed with 40 tonnes of textiles on board was not overloaded but had "some inconsistencies" in its latching systems that secured the fabric, an investigator said on Saturday.

Robert Benzon, leading the probe into the Fine Air DC-8 crash that killed at least five people, would not say if problems with the latching system caused the jet to plummet just after take-off on Thursday.

"There were some inconsistencies of the latching systems that hold down cargo in the aircraft," Mr Benzon, of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at an evening briefing. "There are probably 100 latches that hold these things down."

Investigators were looking at the plane's weight but Mr Benzon said the plane was about 12,250kg below its top allowable figure.