Light Helicopter Depot Owner Allegedly Installed Damaged Parts in Helicopters

The owner of California-based maintenance facility Light Helicopter Depot is facing decades in prison after he replaced a customer’s old parts with even older, more damaged ones. He and his company are charged with 10 counts, including eight related to this incident and two for wire fraud.

48-year-old Jared Michael Swensen of Ventura, California, established Light Helicopter Depot in 2011. It is listed as an authorized service center to perform maintenance, repairs, and overhauls for Robinson R22, R44, and R66 choppers.

Between 2020 and 2023, Swensen and his business were allegedly up to some shifty business. The indictment accuses him of removing parts from a helicopter that were near or at the end of their service life and, instead of putting in new ones, replacing them with damaged components. Some of these may have been in even worse condition than the originals.

These weren’t minor or negligible helicopter components - they were main rotor blades, main rotor spindles, and other critical parts. If they had failed in flight, the pilot and helicopter would not have been in for a smooth landing.

Swensen proceeded to commit fraud in maintenance logs and on FAA release certificates, claiming that they were issued over two years after their actual date. He also charged customers for these dirty services, with one bill coming in at $13,000 and the other hitting $23,700.

As a result of these suspected actions, Swensen is facing a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison per count of wire fraud and 15 years for those involving aircraft parts. With two wire fraud charges and eight parts charges against him… well, you do the math. If convicted, he’s looking at decades in jail.

His company wouldn’t be let off the hook, with a fine of up to $10 million for each parts fraud count and up to $1 million per wire fraud charge.

FMI: www.justice.gov