A ceremony was held Monday in south Florida to remember the 110 people, including three from Gainesville and one from Buford, who were killed in a 1996 plane crash there.
At the ceremony, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chaplain Alex Trinchet described the passengers as “mothers, fathers, and children” and remembered the crew led by a “trailblazing captain” who was “looking forward to the next horizon,” according to WSVN-TV.
The Atlanta-bound ValuJet flight had just taken off from Miami May 11 when it went into a deep dive and plunged into the Everglades.
All on board, including Hugh and Louise Stanley and Ruth Wolfe of Gainesville and Steve Guiler of Buford, were killed. In all, 36 Georgians were among the victims.
The crash was blamed on a fire that began in the cargo hold from improperly stored oxygen generators, which rapidly spread into the cabin, causing the pilots to lose control of the aircraft.
“Fire in the cabin! Fire in the cabin!” one member of the flight crew is heard exclaiming on the cockpit recorder just before the crash.