Banned From Carrying Pax Following Crash Investigation

The Federal Aviation Administration said Interstate Helicopters was not licensed to carry passengers in fixed-wing aircraft, such as the Citation 500 that crashed March 4, and issued an emergency order September 12 revoking the Bethany, OK operator's Air Carrier on Demand certificate.

The FAA alleges the carrier conducted at least 22 flights using seven fixed-wing planes from 2006 to 2008. "This evident disregard for safety is unacceptable and a danger to the flying public," the order stated.

"Additionally, Interstate operated the ... flights with unqualified pilots under Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations in that the crewmembers did not complete the appropriate initial or recurrent training phase of the training program appropriate to the type of operation in which the crewmember served," the FAA said.

As ANN reported, a Citation 500 operated by Interstate Helicopters went down shortly after takeoff from Wiley Post Airport (PWA) last March 4, killing all five aboard. A witness claimed the jet flew through a flock of birds prior to the crash.

After its initial appeal of the action to the National Transportation Safety Board, Interstate reached a settlement with feds and withdrew its appeal on October 7. The deal provided that the FAA would not seek further enforcement action, and the company would apply for recertification, being guaranteed priority for consideration.

Last week, Interstate Helicopters owner Jim Johnson told The Oklahoman he is diligently pursuing recertification, with hopes it can be accomplished in two or three weeks.

"The whole thing was a paperwork thing," Johnson said, explaining that the company had submitted bills for pilot services instead of pilots submitting their own individual billings, which caused problems with the FAA.

Johnson said he would have liked to continue to fight the FAA's action, but it was quicker and cheaper to just settle the case in order to become recertified. "What happened was not fair," he said.

In the interim, Interstate Helicopters continues to offer non-passenger services, such as aerial videotaping and pipeline surveying.

FMI: www.interstatehelicopters.com, www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov