"Business As Usual" As Company Says Employees' Mechanic Certificates Cover MRO Operations At Mesa Facilities.

In response to the unexpected revocation of its repair station certificate by the FAA, Phoenix Heliparts on Friday began the formal appeal of the agency's actions to the National Transportation Safety Board. As the appeal process unfolds, Phoenix says it will continue operations under its employees' individual part 65 mechanic certificates.

Phoenix Heliparts president Tina Cannon, said, "Phoenix has made aggressive moves starting two years ago to improve compliance with critical facets of its repair station certificate; it installed new senior management, rewrote the company's quality manual, and voluntarily refrained from further maintenance under the repair station certificate while undertaking these changes. As a result, following our move to a completely new and expanded facility, FAA inspectors performed an audit of the manuals and facility and reissued the repair station certificate on June 21st of this year.  Consequently, this revocation action comes as a complete surprise.

"The company is particularly gratified by the continued support of its worldwide customer base.  The aviation industry understands that accusations by the government are easy to make and extremely hard and time consuming to defend.

"To imply our work is unsafe, as the FAA has done, is both wrong and harmful to our employees and customers alike,' Cannon added. "Regardless of the FAA's actions and accusations, the company has instituted a very solid quality system and is using that system to ensure that its individually certificated mechanics can prove that every step is taken in accordance with the regulations."

Phoenix says its worldwide customers can rest assured the company will present a vigorous defense, and in the meantime, the quality workmanship it has provided in the past will continue today, tomorrow and in the future.

FMI: www.phoenixheliparts.com, www.faa.gov