Ft. Lauderdale-based Gulfstream International Airways is slapped with a $1.3 million proposed fine after the FAA caught the carrier using automotive parts to repair its aircraft.
In a scorching May 7 letter to the company, The FAA runs down a lengthy list of violations, including substituting automobile air conditioning compressors in its planes, improperly installing ventilation components, over-working dispatchers, and even falsifying pilot flight time records.
The FAA cited several instances where Gulfstream records showed less flight time than what was logged in respective pilot’s personal logbooks, and other instances where company records showed taxi time credited to pilots, where other documents showed the respective pilot may never have even come to work that day.
Moreover, Gulfstream Academy – the company’s flight training arm – is the same company which trained the late Captain Marvin Renslow. Renslow was the captain in the well-publicized Continental Commuter Flight 3340 that crashed near Buffalo earlier this year (see Feb 15, Feb 18, and May 13 blogs below). Investigators in that crash allege Renslow’s pilot error may be a major cause in that accident that killed dozens.
Reportedly, records indicate Renslow failed multiple check flights before the crash; some of which occurred before working for the Continental commuter. This raises questions about the quality of training Renslow received at Gulfstream Academy, and how the system allowed such a pilot to get re-hired; advanced to captain; and then paired with an inexperienced co-pilot until disaster struck.
Gulfstream International Airways serves as a commuter-feed airline to Continental, United, and NWA, and they also maintain a significant independent operation in Cleveland, OH.