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FISHINGOR said:MAYBE A FLOPS PILOT IF THE COMPANY YOU WORK FOR IS CORRUPT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FAA Grounds Company That Hired Flight Crew In Teterboro Crash
POSTED: 9:10 am EST March 4, 2005
UPDATED: 1:33 pm EST March 4, 2005
NEWARK, N.J. -- The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded the company that hired the flight crew for the corporate jet that crashed last month while attempting to take off from Teterboro Airport, and claims it may be unqualified to fly passengers.
The company, Platinum Jet Management, has also refused to fully comply with an FAA subpoena for documents, withholding training records, duty time records and pay records for pilots and mechanics, according to court papers the agency filed late Wednesday.
The court documents were disclosed Thursday after a federal judge in Newark ordered Platinum Jet to attend a hearing Monday and explain why it should not submit the documents.
It is unusual for a carrier to balk at producing such records, said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown.
A key issue in FAA decision is a permit, known as a Part 135 certificate, required to be held by charter operators. The agency maintains that Platinum Jet does not have such a certificate.
A lawyer for Platinum Jet, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said the company was working with another company, Darby Aviation, known as AlphaJet, that has a Part 135 certificate.
"They were operating on another 135, which happens all the time, including on major air carriers," said the lawyer, Mike Moulis. "For those guys to represent to you that that is somehow illegal, they need to go back to aviation school 101."
He maintained that Platinum Jet does not need to release the records sought by the FAA. According to a filing by an FAA lawyer, Moulis also said the crew and mechanics were independent contractors and not covered by the subpoena.
A woman answering the phone at Alphajet, of Muscle Shoals, Ala., said no one was immediately available to speak with a reporter.
The cause of the Feb. 2 crash of the plane carrying eight passengers and three crew members is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA is also involved to determine if any action needs to be taken before the NTSB investigation is completed, Brown said.
The pilot, John Kimberling, has said that when he tried to lift the nose of the aircraft, the controls appeared to jam and the plane would not respond, forcing him to make a split-second decision to abort takeoff.
No one was killed in the crash, but 20 people were injured, including a motorist in a car struck by the Bombardier Canadair Challenger CL-600 aircraft as it crossed Route 46. The aircraft then slammed into a warehouse.
The motorist, James Dinnall, 66, of Paterson, suffered head injuries and remained in serious condition Thursday at Hackensack University Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Nancy Radwin said.
© 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tommy Boy said:When waiting for the hotel shuttle out front you've been tempted to steal the car of the powder blue polo shirt, yellow sweater vest, Tommy Bahama hat wearing dueshbag when he hands you the keys and says.."Red Beamer...there's a 5 in it for you if you are quick.".......