What does $9.16 get you?

I remember the crash of ValuJet 592 in the Everglades very well, and it’s hard for me to believe it has been 10 years since it happened.

This article gives a good recap of the event and what has happened in the airline industry since then. I had never seen this tidbit before, however:

SabreTech workers had signed off on FAA-approved work orders, vouching that they had placed required safety caps on the canisters to disarm them. They had not. Neither SabreTech nor ValuJet had ordered the yellow caps, which would have prevented the firing pins from discharging. The caps would have cost a total of $9.16, including tax.

And so 110 people died.