The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
February 8,
2009 Sunday
FINAL EDITION
Charter jet crash throws spotlight on unfit flights Experts see a flaw in FAA
rules
BYLINE:
TED SHERMAN, STAR-LEDGER STAFF
The corporate jet that crashed at Teterboro Airport four years ago - sparking a federal criminal investigation that came to light last week - carried no logo or colors emblazoned on its tail. But Mary Schiavo, the former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation, said it did have a name:
"Loophole Airlines."
Schiavo said the company that flew the jet was just one example of an unqualified charter operator taking to the skies by circumventing federal regulations.
"This is rampant. It isn't just one operator. This goes on everywhere in every part of the country," she charged. "They are loophole airlines."
The twin-engine Challenger CL-600 corporate jet that smashed into a warehouse Feb. 2, 2005, during a takeoff attempt was operated by Platinum Jet Management LLC of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Executives of the now-defunct company were indicted Wednesday on federal criminal charges, accused of a scheme to operate an air charter operation by falsifying flight logs and other records. The company also deliberately overloaded planes with fuel at the airports where it was cheapest to top off tanks, the indictment said.
The accident focused attention on a practice in which one company, not licensed to fly paying passengers, can essentially "share" the federal flight certification of another air charter company.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposes more-stringent rules on air charter operators than on private and noncommercial flights. They include specific training, record-keeping and safety requirements regarding load manifests and flight-time limitations and proficiency tests for pilots.
Companies unable to meet those requirements by themselves may reach a sharing agreement with a certified air carrier - a practice known as piggybacking. Platinum Jet had such a deal with Darby Aviation of Muscle Shoals, Ala.
The practice is legal if the certified operator maintains control of the flight, and Darby has not been charged with any wrongdoing. But piggybacking has led to some tragedies and close calls. In the case of Platinum, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott McBride said, pilots had not received the training to fly paying passengers, and the company simply ignored the records and safety requirements.
"This was a charter company that disregarded all the rules," said McBride.
Schiavo, an outspoken critic of the nation's aviation regulators, said nobody knows how many other charter companies are doing the same thing that got Platinum into trouble.
"The charter outfits don't have to file any reports," she said. "You only see it when there's a crash."
MISSING THE RED FLAGS
CharterX Wyvern, a Trenton consulting firm that does background checks on charter operations and pilots for corporate clients, said there is no shortage of alarming examples.
"Just several weeks ago, a flight into Wilmington dead-sticked to the runway," recalled company chief executive Jim Betlyon. "The plane was flying a family and ran out of gas, and by grace of God the family walked away. But the flight itself was illegal."
The plane, a corporate Cessna Citation jet, had been chartered through Caribair out of the Dominican Republic and was being flown as a noncommercial flight. But as a foreign charter operator flying into the United States, it should have been flying under the far tougher rules governing scheduled airlines, Betlyon said.
"If someone had any doubts about a Dominican operator flying a U.S.-registered aircraft into the U.S. and wasn't suspicious, they would have to be brain dead or stupid," said Betlyon.
Last March, another Cessna Citation crashed on takeoff in Oklahoma, killing all five aboard. Betlyon said the airplane was being operated by Interstate Helicopters, which was authorized to operate only helicopters.
And not long after the Teterboro accident, the Federal Aviation Administration revoked the air carrier operating certificate of American Air Network Inc. of Chesterfield, Mo., for improperly permitting commercial flights by other companies on its air carrier certificate. Betlyon said the company never actually operated any jets; it simply rented its certificate to anyone who wanted to go into the aircraft charter business.
NATIONAL REVIEW
The FAA, which came under criticism by the National Transportation Safety Board for its oversight of Platinum, launched a crackdown immediately after the Teterboro crash, sending letters to about 130 carriers to gauge the extent of relationships similar to the one between Platinum and Darby.
FAA spokesman Jim Peters said Friday the agency began a national review of air taxi operational issues more than a year ago, which led to actions against several companies.
Scott Bickford, a charter broker who heads the Air Charter Association of North America, said some customers regard private jet travel as a commodity and simply look for the best price.
"A lot of people put up a great website and it looks easy until something goes wrong. But there are players on the margins that anyone in the business knew to avoid," said Bickford, whose own company, Air Planning LLC of Salem, N.H., specializes in larger charters for sports teams and other clients.
Bickford suggested due diligence should enable brokers to ferret out unqualified charter operations through public records and auditing firms.
That was not done for the Chicago-bound flight out of Teterboro last February, according to the NTSB. In its accident report, the safety board said the flight was set up through Blue Star Jets. New York-based Blue Star contracted with a carrier, Platinum, that had operated with a "host of irregularities," the NTSB noted.
"Blue Star is selling safety, but they didn't look behind the claims made by Platinum, nor were they required to," said NTSB member Kathryn Higgins.
Blue Star - which has prominent testimonials from former baseball slugger Sammy Sosa, actor Denis Leary and tennis star Andy Roddick on its website - says in its advertising that it has made safety and security the cornerstone of its offerings.
Blue Star CEO Richard Sitomer, a former Wall Street stockbroker, declined comment.