Sat, Mar 05, 2005
Company Hired Flight Crew Involved In Teterboro Challenger
Accident
The company that hired the flight crew for the Bombardier Challenger 600 corporate jet that
crashed on takeoff at Teterboro Airport has been grounded by
the FAA through a Cease And Desist order. In an unusual move,
Platinum Jet Management has refused to provide documents including
training, duty time and pay records related to pilots and mechanics
to the FAA, which served the company with a subpoena for the
documents through a US attorney in Newark (NJ). Some of the records
have been turned over, but not all.
A federal judge has ordered the company to attend a hearing on
Monday and explain why it is refusing to turn over the requested
information. From the court documents obtained by the Associated
Press, it appears that the FAA is pursuing an investigation of the
company on the basis that it does not have a Part 135 certificate
to operate chartered aircraft. Mike Moulis, attorney for Platinum
Jet, claims that the company was at the time working with AlphaJet,
a Part 135 certificate holder owned by EH Darby and Co. out of
Sheffield (AL).
"They were operating on
another 135, which happens all the time, including on major air
carriers," said Moulis. "For those guys to represent to you that
that is somehow illegal, they need to go back to aviation school
101."
Moulis added that "The FAA has no clue what's going on with
respect to this investigation. And they don't even have the time or
decency to talk to the NTSB and now they're on a witch-hunt." In
addition, Moulis claims that Platinum Jet Management does not need
to provide the required documents, and that the mechanics and crew
are independent contractors who are not covered by the
subpoena.
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