Airworthiness Fraud Indictment Names Management and Employees from Repair Station “Aircraft Transparencies Repair” (ATR)

The South Florida Business Journal reports that the FBI has released a 21-count indictment charging 16 individuals with criminal activity related to Hialeah-based repair station Aircraft Transparencies Repair.

The article indicates that the facility was operating as an unlicensed repair station even though they had told federal officials they were closed.  The article also states that the the indictment claims that “the defendants also created false records to make it appear to the Federal Aviation Administration that the company was no longer repairing aircraft windows.  Some of the defendants are alleged to have filed false unemployment compensation requests to further the illusion that ATR was out of business.”

The Justice Department Press Release states:

According to the indictment, between August 2009 and August 2010, the defendants falsely certified to commercial aviation customers that the aircraft cockpit windows they sold were airworthy. In fact, however, the defendants knew that they were not authorized by the FAA to certify the airworthiness of aircraft cockpit windows. To execute their scheme, the defendants purchased “as removed” aircraft cockpit windows in the open market and then backdated numerous documents, including FAA Form 8130-3’s, work orders, and traceability documentation, to make it appear that the aircraft cockpit windows had been retrieved from ATR’s inventory while its FAA Repair Station Certificate was still valid. As well, the defendants allegedly altered the serial numbers on the aircraft cockpit windows that had been sent to ATR by the commercial aviation customers to make it appear that the aircraft cockpit windows had come from inventory rather than from the true commercial aviation customers.

Court documents in this matter are filed at the District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Any company that has had windows repaired by this repair station may wish to examine whether the repair were completed properly and legally.