The Associated Press State & Local Wire

March 3, 2005, Thursday, BC cycle


FAA grounds company that hired flight crew in Teterboro crash


BYLINE: By JEFFREY GOLD, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: 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.

 

March 6, 2005

Teterboro Crash Charter Shut Down

 

By Russ Niles, local1o newswriter, Editor
 

   

 The FAA has shut down the Florida charter company whose Challenger bizjet ran off the runway at Teterboro Airport last month. The agency ordered Platinum Jet Management to "cease and desist" all operations on Thursday after allegedly discovering the company doesn't have the necessary paperwork to provide the crew and airplane for hire.

But the company says the charges are bogus and part of a "witch hunt." Platinum spokesman Mike Moulis told Miami/Fort Lauderdale's Local 10 news the FAA "has no clue what's going on with this investigation" and has unfairly targeted the charter company. The FAA claims the lack of the certificate means no one at Platinum was responsible for making sure its crew members are properly licensed, trained and equipped for flying charters. But Platinum contends that the paperwork is held by another company, Alphajet, which contracts Platinum to supply the aircraft, pilots and support for the flights. Platinum has refused to turn over crew and aircraft records pertaining to the Teterboro accident but a New Jersey judge has ordered company officials to appear in court today to explain why.


Commuter Plane Company Says FAA On 'Witch-Hunt'

Planes Grounded In Dispute Over Documents

 

POSTED: Friday, March 4, 2005

 

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A grounded commuter airline company says federal regulators are targeting the company unfairly.

The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded Platinum Jet Management. A jet owned by the company crashed last month during takeoff from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.  Twenty people were injured in the crash, one critically.

The U.S. attorney in Newark subpoenaed records as part of the FAA's investigation into the crash. The FAA says some documents were turned over, but not all that were requested.

Platinum Management said that the company does own the plane, but says the plane was being operated by another company.

 

Mike Moulis, with Platinum Jet Management, said, "The F.A.A. has no clue what's going on with respect to this investigation. And they don't even have the time or decency to talk to the NTSB and now they're on a witch-hunt."

 

Thursday, the FAA issued a rare emergency cease-and-desist order grounding all the company's planes

The NTSB has not commented on the investigation.