VOL. 126 | NO. 207 | Monday, October 24, 2011
The Associated Press
Updated 4:49PMMEMPHIS (AP) ? Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines Inc. is facing more than a million dollars in civil penalties for allegedly not complying with federal regulations.
In one case, the Federal Aviation Administration alleges the company operated a Canadair Regional Jet on 23 flights between April 30 and May 4, 2009, on which flight crew members performed procedures that should have been performed by maintenance workers.
In another case, the airline's general maintenance manual requires maintenance workers to install and remove a cable kit when operating an aircraft with an inoperative or missing wheel assembly for the passenger door.
FAA officials said flight crew members performed the procedure on the flights in question.
In another incident, Pinnacle is accused of failing to complete inspections of the low-pressure turbine case on a Canadair Regional Jet. The inspections were to identify and track growth of a crack in the case to make sure it didn't exceed the maximum allowable length.
Pinnacle executives, in a written statement, said the company has worked with the FAA to revise maintenance and safety programs and spent $3 million toward that goal above and beyond what the FAA has required.
They also emphasized that all of the flights in question were operated safely and Pinnacle in obeying the rules today.
The airline is one of three carriers that are part of Pinnacle Airlines Corp.
The 2009 incident allegedly occurred after FAA inspectors had denied an airline request to make the work an operations task instead of a maintenance task.
The FAA announced in September it would fine Colgan Air Inc., another part of Pinnacle Corp., $1.9 million for a series of 172 flights in 2009 in which flight attendants were not trained in using the plane?s cabin fire extinguisher system but were instead trained on a different kind of fire system used in a different type of jet.
The FAA had warned the regional air carrier of the problem before the flights that prompted the fine.
The FAA examination of training and duties of Pinnacle flight attendants followed the 2009 crash of a Colgan jet in Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 50 people.
Daily News senior reporter Bill Dries contributed to this story.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/oct/24/pinnacle-facing-more-than-1m-in-faa-fines/
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