KIMBERLY PIERCEALL/STAFF PHOTO
The San Bernardino County tax collector placed a boot on the tire of a 1973 Boeing 727 in December 2011. The plane is owned by one of Scot Spencer's companies and was used as collateral for a $550,000 loan the airport gave Spencer that comes due in 2013.
With Scot Spencer and San Bernardino International Airport, nothing is simple.
When airport officials were asked to account for three engines that Spencer used along with a Boeing 727 as collateral for a $550,000 loan from the airport, there wasn’t a yes or no answer. Instead, there was a question: Where are the engines?
Airport staff found two sitting in an aircraft hangar — not attached to a plane. No one was sure of the third engine’s whereabouts.
That’s why a small crowd gathered on a recent rare stormy day in San Bernardino to watch one of the airport’s mechanics flip open the engine compartments of the aging 727.
The mechanic peered in, comparing the serial number of the missing engine to the numbers of the engines mounted on the 727. The numbers were obscured deep in the recesses of the compartment. He was going to need a mirror. Better, a mirror on a stick.
Among those watching were a reporter, two airport officials, two Spencer representatives and the county tax collector, who brought along two staff members equipped with video cameras to observe the inspection. The tax collector had seized the jet in December 2011 for nonpayment of taxes.
At the end of the day, there was still no clear answer. One of the engines on the plane had a serial number almost identical to one of the three listed in loan documents. It was off by a single number.
“I don’t know if this is a coincidence or if there is a(n) error on the serial number recorded in the loan documents,” wrote Bill Ingraham, the airport aviation director, in an email.
Airport officials are assuming that it is the engine in question and are now making sure all three are in tip-top shape, said A.J. Wilson, interim executive director of the San Bernardino International Airport Authority.
If the almost-identical serial numbers are a coincidence, though, the third engine is still missing.
The loan, which has been accruing 5 percent interest since 2008, comes due in 2013.
The scuffed 40-year-old plane is owned by SBD Aircraft Services LLC, a Spencer-managed company. Parked on the airport’s tarmac, the jet still has a boot chained to one of its tires, courtesy of the tax collector’s office.
Full story, photos and comments: http://www.pe.com
Related:
WEBLINK Plane at center of questionable settlement, booted -- Dec. 8, 2011
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