Think ‘Holding Out’ is Bad? Try Doing it Without a Pilot Certificate

A pilot involved in a 2021 helicopter crash has been sentenced for flying without a license, pleading guilty to unrelated cases that occurred years prior. 

Matthew Jones was charged with wire fraud and flying sans airman certificate, and accepted a plea deal for one year of incarceration and 36 months of supervised release. Jones had texted false information to victims he found online, presenting himself as a qualified, licensed, airman and flight instructor.. The first paid him nearly $10,000, and another paid almost $30,000. As a part of the deal, he will pay restitution to the two. Jones had advertised online, offering transportation by helicopter to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The agreement marks an end to the case, which had been in progress when Jones was involved in a fatal Tennessee accident while at the helm.

That crash occurred when Jones picked up a helicopter with an unnamed female passenger from the Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge Airport in Sevierville. Jones had planned on flying through the Great Smoky Mountains in marginal visibility after assessing the Robinson in the flight pattern, and was repeatedly warned by locals against his plan. One air ambulance pilot said the Smoky Mountains were dangerous, but, from the sound of the NTSB preliminary report, was met with a cocky scoff and the remark “those are hills”.  Jones pressed on despite the weather conditions and soon crashed the R-44 into a mountain nearby. While he suffered “serious injuries” in the crash, his passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Under his plea, Jones cannot fly, instruct, carry firearms, or renew a passport. It remains to be seen if any additional charges will result from his December 2021 crash. 

FMI: www.justice.gov