The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed civil penalties totaling $1,228,671 against five private aviation companies for allegedly conducting illegal charter flights, according to a release from the agency.
Five companies were tagged: PottCo Airlease, PottCo Tactical Air, Wikert Air, Oracle Aviation, and East Shore Aviation.
Read: FAA proposes fine for illegal charters against operator involved in two accidents
The cases are as follows:
The FAA alleges that PottCo Airlease conducted 16 paid passenger-carrying flights in a twin-engine Cessna Conquest without a required air carrier or operating certificate.
Furthermore, the company had no FAA-issued Operations Specifications, which describe what an operator is authorized to do.
The FAA also alleges that the company lacked required personnel, including a qualified director of operations, a chief pilot, and a maintenance director.
The company also allegedly employed pilots who had not passed the required written or oral tests, competency, and proficiency checks, nor had they completed the required training.
The flights allegedly occurred between July 11 and Nov. 20, 2019, using airports in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Tennessee.
The FAA alleges the flights were careless and reckless, endangering lives or property.
In a related action, the FAA alleges that PottCo Tactical Air conducted 43 paid passenger-carrying flights in a twin-engine Cessna Conquest without a required air carrier or operating certificate.
The company had no FAA-issued Operations Specifications, which describe what an operator is authorized to do.
The FAA further alleges that PottCo Tactical Air lacked required personnel. Lacking were a qualified director of operations, a chief pilot, and a maintenance director. The company also allegedly employed pilots who had not passed the required written or oral tests, competency, and proficiency checks, including passing a check ride during the preceding 12 months.
Flights allegedly occurred between Feb. 20, 2018, and Feb. 6, 2020, using airports in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
The FAA alleges the flights were careless and reckless, endangering lives or property.
Wikert Air conducted 21 paid passenger-carrying flights in a single-engine Pilatus PC-12-45 but lacked a required air carrier or operating certificate, according to the FAA. The company also did not have FAA-issued Operations Specifications, which describe what an operator is authorized to do.
The FAA further alleges that Wikert Air lacked required personnel, including a qualified director of operations, a chief pilot, and a maintenance director. The company also allegedly employed pilots who had not passed the required written or oral tests, competency, and proficiency checks, including passing a check ride during the preceding 12 months.
The flights occurred between April 19, 2018, and Oct. 13, 2019, using airports in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Flights were careless and reckless, endangering lives or property, the FAA alleges.
The company conducted nine paid passenger-carrying flights in a single-engine Cessna 172M and a single-engine Pilatus PC-12. It did not have a required air carrier or operating certificate, according to the FAA. The company also did not have FAA-issued Operations Specifications, which describe what an operator is authorized to do.
The FAA further alleges that Oracle Aviation lacked required personnel, including a director of operations, a chief pilot, and a maintenance director. The company also allegedly used pilots who had not passed required written or oral tests, competency, and proficiency checks and had not completed the required training.
The flights occurred between November 2018 and June 2019, using airports in Nebraska, Kansas, Washington State, and Iowa.
The flights were careless and reckless, endangering lives or property, the FAA alleges.
The FAA alleges that between Jan. 20 and June 25, 2020, East Shore Aviation conducted nine passenger-carrying charter flights in three single-engine Pilatus PC-12s. The agency alleges that two of the planes were not on the company’s FAA-issued Operations Specifications, which describe what a company is authorized to do. The FAA authorized East Shore Aviation to use the other plane only under visual flight rules. However, the company operated it under instrument flight rules, the FAA alleges.
Furthermore, East Shore Aviation operated under an Aircraft Interchange Agreement for which the Pilatus was not eligible. Such interchange agreements allow owners of aircraft to share planes but apply only to large multi-engine jets effectively. The Pilatus PC-12 is not that type of aircraft.
The FAA further alleges that the pilots of the nine flights had not completed the required training and passed required annual, written, oral, and competency checks.
The flights used airports in South Carolina, Louisiana, Maryland, and Florida.
The FAA reports it has been in contact with all companies. In some cases, operators have been able to have the FAA repeal the fines. The illegal charters are sometimes a result of aircraft owners who don’t understand the rules.
Either way, illegal charters remain a significant concern in the industry. During an Aviation Week webinar last year, 64% of attendees said illegal charter is very/often problematic. Another 31% said these gray market flights are occasionally problematic.
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