The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a civil penalty of $892,500 against Air Methods for allegedly flying an Airbus EC-135 helicopter on 51 passenger-carrying flights when it was not in a safe condition.
According to FAA, the helicopter’s pitot tubes were found to be severely corroded during an inspection conducted by the agency on November 2014.
After discovering the corrosion, FAA stated that it had notified Air Methods. However, the company allegedly continued to operate the helicopter on various passenger-carrying profitable flights between 4 November and 11 November 2014 without fixing or replacing the pitot tubes.
FAA administrator Michael Huerta said: “Operators are expected to respond appropriately when FAA inspectors alert them to airworthiness concerns.
“It is imperative that all operators address those concerns before operating their aircraft.”
According to the FAA allegation, Air Methods flew the helicopter when it was unairworthy and violated its operations specifications, endandering lives and property.
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By GlobalDataThe agency has granted a responding period of 30 days from receiving its enforcement letter to Air Methods.
A provider of air medical transportation, Air Methods currently has more than 300 bases of operations, serving 48 states in the US.
Last month, FAA proposed a civil penalty of $500,000 against SeaPort Airlines for allegedly operating three single-engine Cessna Caravans when they were not airworthy.
