NEWS

Kemper Aviation, based at Lantana Airport in south Florida, is the focus of federal investigations following three fatal accidents that have claimed eight lives in less than six months. In the most recent accident on March 13, company co-owner Captain Jeff Rozelle died along with three passengers. The National Transportation Safety Board of the US is expected to publish probable cause reports and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is conducting a review of the school’s maintenance operation. FAA records reveal that several of the aircraft operated by Kemper Aviation were manufactured before 1980—two were, in fact, 37 years old. Interestingly, among the institute’s students, around 70 are Indians, besides the co-owner, Captain Akshay Mohan, who is also reportedly a pilot with Kingfisher Airlines.

VIEWS

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)—in the news recently for inadequate supervision of maintenance standards followed by some major airlines in the US—finds itself in the line of fire yet again. The spate of fatal accidents at Kemper Aviation in the last six months has raised doubts about the work ethos in the FAA and its ability to carry out its mandate effectively, especially with regards to small flying units.

Kemper Aviation flying instructors have frequently voiced concerns about maintenance and safety standards. Some lawmakers have also endorsed these observations and are now holding the FAA largely responsible for indifference and neglect which they believe has allowed the situation to drift and degenerate to point where Kemper Aviation is now labeled as having the worst safety record in the state of Florida. On its part the FAA claims to have taken Kemper to task in the past for regulatory violations in respect of maintenance and has even imposed a fine in the year 2000. As against 40-odd flying training schools in India, there are 66 in the state of Florida alone. Kemper Aviation tops the list of schools in Florida that have atrocious safety record.

In existence for nearly two decades, Kemper Aviation is one of the flying training schools in the US which moved quickly to take advantage of the spurt in demand for flying training in India in the wake of the boom in the civil aviation industry. As per the rules, the company obtained a separate licence to train foreign students alongside local students. It undertook aggressive marketing in India through its co-owner Captain Akshay Mohan who has been employed as pilot with Kingfisher Airlines for the last eight months or so.