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Aviation Company Faces $5.9M Penalty for Failure to Train Hazmat Employees

Posted on 5/27/2020 by Lauren Scott

An Atlanta-based transportation company has been cited for allegedly operating illegal cargo flights and failing to provide hazmat training for employees as required by 49 CFR 172.704 and the IATA DGR.

FAA alleges the company did not have an approved hazardous materials training program and did not provide initial and recurrent hazardous materials training to all its crew members as required. FAA further alleges the company did not have an approved pilot training program.

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Between 2017 and 2019, the company allegedly operated a Cessna Caravan, Beechcraft Super King Air, and CASA 212-200 on a total of 270 illegal cargo flights. According to FAA, the company did not have a commercial operating certificate, advertised and offered to perform operations that required such a certificate, received compensation for the flights, and used pilots who had not passed required tests and flight-competency checks.

The flights occurred between Raleigh-Durham Airport, Albert J. Ellis Airport, Coastal Carolina Regional Airport, and Dare Country Regional Airport in North Carolina; Columbia Metropolitan Airport and Beaufort County Airport in South Carolina; and Eastern Iowa Airport and Spencer Municipal Airport in Iowa.

FAA has issued a fine of $5.89 million to the Atlanta-based aviation company. The company has 30 days after receiving FAA’s enforcement action to respond or contest the decision.

US DOT hazmat civil penalties can be as high as $81,993 per day, per violation.

Failure to provide hazmat employee training can result in a minimum fine of $493 per day, per violation. 

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Tags: hazardous materials, hazmat, hazmat training, IATA, IATA Training

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