Following the investigation into the February 2005 take-off crash of a chartered Bombardier Challenger 600 at Teterboro airport, New Jersey, the US Federal Aviation Administration set out to impose tighter operational specifications on FAR Part 135 air taxi companies.
The passengers involved in the Teterboro crash - which injured the crew members, eight people in the cabin and several more on the ground - had booked the trip through a broker, who then chartered the aircraft from an air taxi operator, which had been paying a Part 135 certificate holder to have its aircraft listed as part of the Part 135 operator's fleet, a practice known as "franchising" the 135 certificate.
While the arrangements can be legal if carried out properly, the FAA had discovered that in many situations Part 135 companies had lost "operational control" of the charters, and this was judged to be the case at Teterboro. But local FAA inspectors still differed in their opinions as to what was allowable for their Part 135 charges.
Meanwhile, commenting specifically on the AMI Jet Charter issue, the National Air Transportation Association's president James Coyne says that FAA lawyers "have essentially derailed one of the biggest and best Part 135 certificate holders in the country for reasons other than safety".
Source: Flight International
