Law

For flight department managers, the work necessary to locate the best qualified temporary pilots, flight attendants or maintenance technicians has become easier over the past decade, thanks in part to the communications technology of the Internet. However, for the handful of staffing companies that actually serve as the go-between for employers and employees, the job has become considerably tougher as those companies assume much more of the risk than before.

Many, but not all, former Silver State Helicopter students have had their student loans forgiven in the wake of the 2008 bankruptcy and liquidation of what was then the largest civil helicopter school in the U.S. However, Cleveland-based KeyBank did not offer loan forgiveness, prompting 100 former students to sue, charging that the bank knew of Silver State’s precarious financial condition when it offered them high-interest-rate loans of up to $70,000 to attend the school. Arguments in the case were heard late last year by the Ninth Circuit U.S.

The FAA proposed two civil penalties totaling $633,000 against Bridgeton, Mo.-based Trans States Airlines last month for alleged maintenance violations involving two Embraer ERJ145s.

In the first case, the FAA alleges Trans States improperly installed replacement radio altimeter antenna cables on two airplanes and then operated the noncompliant airplanes on 268 revenue flights. Inspectors found the new cables lying unsecured to the airframe inside each aircraft’s large aft wing-to-fuselage fairing rather than mounted to the walls. The violation would carry a fine of $322,000.

The International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), a global organization dedicated to reducing the civil helicopter accident rate, has added Robinson Helicopter president Kurt Robinson to its executive committee. He is a commercial helicopter pilot and he holds an MBA and a law degree from the University of San Diego.