By MATT MILLER, The Patriot-News
on November 13, 2012 at 1:50 PM, updated November 13, 2012 at 2:18 PM
Without admitting any wrongdoing, a midstate skydiving center will
pay $10,000 to resolve federal claims that it flew an uninspected plane
that leaked fuel and wasn’t airworthy, the center’s lawyer said today.
The deal was struck because it was simply less expensive for the Chambersburg Skydiving Center to
agree to the compromise settlement than to battle to win the case in
U.S. Middle District Court, center attorney Robert Feldman said.
“The Chambersburg Skydiving Center didn’t do anything wrong,” Feldman said. “We’re denying there was any violation.”
No
settlement documents have yet been filed, but the U.S. Attorney’s
Office has lodged a complaint seeking a $10,000 civil penalty from the
center, which is based at the Franklin County Regional Airport, formerly
the Chambersburg Airport.
In that complaint, the feds claim the
center flew a Beech B90 aircraft from October 2007 through April 2008
that had not undergone a required federal safety inspection.
The
plane leaked fuel and its flaps, which are crucial especially for
take-offs and landings, were inoperable, according to the complaint. It
states that by flying the allegedly deficient aircraft center officials
acted “in a reckless or careless manner so as to endanger the life or
property of another.”
The feds contend that, despite its alleged
mechanical shortcomings, the center flew that plane 153 times with
skydiving clients aboard.
When contacted about the federal suit,
center operator J.R. Sides referred questions to Feldman, who said the
case should be formally settled before Judge John E. Jones III in a few
weeks.
When asked if the plane at issue had been inspected and
was mechanically sound, Feldman replied “The FAA (Federal Aviation
Administration) says it wasn’t and we say it was. But we are
compromising and we’re not arguing about it.”
He said the center
no longer uses the plane cited in the federal suit. The center’s website
states that “our pristine fleet of aircraft are maintained and operated
by FAA-certified pilots and mechanics.”
“I’m a skydiver myself.
I’ve been defending the industry since 1978,” Feldman said. “I can tell
you that these guys (at the Chambersburg center) have a good safety
record. They’re interested in running a safe operation.”
Besides, he said, Sides and his family members use the center’s planes for their own skydiving jumps. In 2010 Sides’ son, Jamie, was a member of a team that won the U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships.
“These are the planes they jump from. And their lives are obviously as important as anybody else’s,” Feldman said.
Story and reaction/comments: http://www.pennlive.com
http://www.skydivingcenter.net
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