Through muck and sawgrass, a grim and dangerous search

``A lot of us were at the Oklahoma City bombing and are unwilling to give up,'' said Metro Fire Assistant Chief Carlos Castillo.

Their task is arduous: They are trying to find 109 passengers and crew members from the ValuJet flight, and they have no firm ground to stand on. The plane crashed in muck. They are uncertain if the plane disintegrated or if part of it is lodged in the Everglades, invisible.

``It's a very dangerous situation for the rescuers,'' Metro Fire Lt. Luis Fernandez said.

Rescue teams kept about 10 airboats at the site last night but planned to wait until daybreak before resuming their efforts. They are expected to be joined by more airboats, helicopters and wildlife trappers today.

Also in attendance will be federal aviation investigators from Washington, D.C., who will try to determine the cause of the crash. They also will search for the ValuJet DC-9's black box. ``We break into groups. Those groups include structure experts, air traffic control experts, operations experts, and we investigate the area,'' said a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates airplane crashes.