Florida Commuter Airlines Crash - Aftermath

Aftermath

A committee called the Raise the Plane Committee made plans to locate the aircraft and recover it from an estimated depth of 1800 feet. The recovery effort was abandoned after the committee was unable to secure enough money to locate the plane.

The NTSB report would later determine that the method used to clear the pitot tubes was an "...improper maintenance procedure" and may have contributed to the crash. The chief mechanic, Sam DeThomas, used a small screwdriver and a coat hanger instead of the required procedure to remove the mud dauber nest. DeThomas said the reason he didn't follow the proper procedure (which required disconnecting instruments from the panel and blowing compressed air through the pitot tubes) was due to the passenger's impatience. DeThomas told investigators that "I had the problem of people screaming that they wanted to get back on the airplane - not get back on the airplane, but they wanted to go"

The Airline was insured by Aviation Insurance Co., a representative of Lloyd's of London. Coverage included aircraft liability, property damage, bodily injury to passengers, and damage to passenger's property. Several of the passenger's families sued the airline, but later reluctantly settled for $35,000 per passenger. The mother of Mary McNamara later stated that "I feel badly about it, but we couldn't go through any more. Answering all those questions... They (attorneys for the insurance company) made us feel like she was someone who rented a room from us. I cannot tell you what she meant to me. A beautiful young girl walked out the door and was brutally murdered"