WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes a $1,504,800 civil penalty against B E L Aviation of Odessa, Texas, for allegedly conducting illegal charter flights.
The FAA alleges that between September 2016 and July 2018, B E L conducted 114 unauthorized for-hire flights transporting passengers throughout the United States and Mexico on a Piaggio P-180 Avanti II aircraft. The flights were unauthorized because B E L Aviation did not have an air carrier or air operator certificate, the FAA alleges.
The FAA alleges that the operations were careless or reckless. The agency further alleges the pilot who conducted the flights did not meet applicable training requirements for those types of operations.
B E L has 30 days after receiving the FAA’s enforcement letter to respond to agency.
Source: Federal Aviation Administration
