[2] Fine Air raised $123.5 million in an initial public offering on August 6, 1997,[3] and planned to use the funds to purchase new aircraft and expand its cargo route network to Europe.

"[1] On August 7, 1997, the day after the IPO, Fine Air Flight 101, crashed shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport.

[5] It voluntarily grounded its fleet on September 5 as an alternative to having its license revoked by the FAA,[6] but received government approval to resume operations in October 1997.

[8] By 2000, Fine Air had around $200 million in annual revenue, more than 125 scheduled flights each week and a staff of more than 900 employees, handling 240,000 tons of cargo through its Miami hub in 1999.

Pallets are held by rails at the sides from moving in an upward direction, but only the retractable end locks can stop forward and aft movement.

The pilots, departing from former Runway 27R (now 26L) attempted to recover but the stalled aircraft lacked any forward thrust rendering the control surfaces useless.

It skidded across the open field and onto NW 72nd Ave, a roadway that is typically full of traffic during the lunch hour but was surprisingly quiet at 12:36p EST when it came down.

Inside one of the cars in the parking lot sat a man who had just arrived back at his shop in the mini-mall after picking up lunch for his wife and himself.

Some relevant documentations were recovered from garbage receptacles causing a criminal investigation to be opened and ultimately leading to charges including destruction and covering up of evidence.