Criminal Charges Dropped Against Pilot in 2005 FL DC-3 Crash.

[FN FAL]

Charges dropped in 2005 Fla. plane crash
By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI (AP) -- Prosecutors dropped all charges against a pilot who crash-landed a vintage cargo plane on a residential Fort Lauderdale street last year, the pilot's attorney said Friday.

Charles Riggs had faced charges of operating a plane in air commerce illegally and failing to file a customs declaration. The charges carried a total of up to $97,000 in fines, said Riggs' attorney, Chris Mancini.

The World War II-era DC-3, which was headed to the Bahamas, experienced engine trouble after taking off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport with a cargo of granite. Riggs escaped the burning wreckage with his co-pilot and passenger.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Cohn fined the company operating the plane $2,000 plus $125 dollars in court costs for failing to file a required customs form, said U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Kay. The company, Air Pony Express, Inc., is based in Fort Lauderdale.

In July, an administrative law judge threw out a Federal Aviation Administration case attempting to revoke Riggs' pilot's license, and because the criminal case against him depended on the FAA case, the charges against him were dropped, Mancini said.

An FAA spokeswoman could not confirm after hours Friday the details of the case against Riggs.

Rescue workers credited Riggs with saving dozens of lives by managing to crash-land the plane without hitting buildings or homes in a heavily populated area.

lllll

 

[goodgig]

I wonder what the FAA was basing their case on?

 

[FN FAL]

I wonder what the FAA was basing their case on?

A pilot flying a plane.

 

[KigAir]

So the FAA wanted to ruin the pilots life over a missing customs declaration? What a bunch of aholes.