FAA Will Continue Investigation

Following its third fatal accident in six months, on Tuesday Lantana, FL-based Kemper Aviation surrendered its operating certificate to the FAA.

"The certificate was surrendered for cancellation, meaning that the certificate is now void, and that Kemper can no longer offer pilot training," the FAA stated late Tuesday, reports The Palm Beach Post. "The FAA is continuing to review the results of its February 2008 inspection."

As ANN reported, on Saturday the NTSB released its Preliminary Report on the latest accident, which took the lives of pilot and Kemper co-owner Jeff Rozelle, and Florida Atlantic University researchers Damion Marx, Phil Heidemann, and Gareth Akerman.

Investigators noted the Cessna 172S was flying low and slow over several pastures near Indiantown when the airplane fell from an altitude of about 250 feet AGL. The aircraft may also have been over its gross weight rating at the time.

That accident was Kemper's fifth since September 2006, and the third fatal accident since October 2007. The school carried the worst safety record out of Florida's 66 flight schools over the past five years, according to NTSB data cited by The Post.

Earlier this month, two South Florida congressmen called for the FAA to speed up its investigations into safety at Kemper. US Representatives Ron Klein of Boca Raton and Robert Wexler of Delray Beach, both Democrats, wanted the FAA to prioritize its review of the Florida school, in apparent hopes of closing it down.

Kemper officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

FMI: www.flight101.com