The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has accused Nantucket Express of conducting passenger flights with unqualified pilots in unauthorized aircraft and is proposing the revocation of the company’s air carrier certificate.
According to an FAA statement issued on Friday, Nantucket Express conducted 76 flights between March 2015 and September 2017 with three airplanes that were not listed on its air carrier certificate. Of those 76 flights, 39 were conducted in airplanes that had not received require safety inspections, the FAA said.
In addition, all 76 flights were conducted by unqualified pilots, the FAA said, adding that the pilots either were not listed on the air carrier certificate as authorized pilots or had not passed the required competency and flights checks and knowledge test.
Seventeen more flights were conducted by unqualified pilots between April 2016 and September 2017, the FAA said.
The agency said the air carrier’s actions were “careless or reckless, and its numerous violations of the Federal Aviation Regulations demonstrate that it lacks the qualifications to hold an air carrier certificate.”
Nantucket Express had 15 days after receiving notice of the FAA’s proposed certificate-revocation to tell the agency how it plans to respond. The FAA said that if the company fails to meet the deadline, the agency will issue the order revoking its air carrier certificate.
