Published On:Tuesday, August 31, 2010

By NOELLE NICOLLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

nnicolls@tribunemedia.net

AIRLINE passengers are in "cahoots" with operators of illegal charter flight services according to industry players, who say the practice occurs "blatantly" in the face of authorities.

Aviation authorities are urging passengers to stop participating in the "dangerous" flights, warning that their lives are at risk.

Some politicians are have even been guilty of complicity in the past, according to one pilot, who said candidates have taken advantage of the cheaper services during election time.

"It is a serious issue. You have some hackers down there that don't have a pilot's licence, but have been flying for how long. The level of corruption stirs it up and keeps it afloat. The persons who get away with it have some kind of connections to be able to get away with it for so long. It happens blatantly every day in the face of the authorities," said the pilot.

"Hacking" is a problem as old as the aviation industry in the Bahamas, said another pilot. It refers to the practice of operating charter services without the proper licenses or permits. He said several established Bahamian pilots started out hacking.

"Not all aircraft or pilots are Aircraft Operator Certificate (AOC) holders. The aircraft may be certified as air-worthy, but that doesn't mean the person is approved to do a charter flight. Everybody can fly their private plane, but not everybody can fly for commercial purposes. There is a process you have to go through for certification," said Hubert Adderley, director of Flight Standards

"There is nothing I can do to stop a person flying his cousin to Andros. If he wants to fly those people and charge them $100, once he collects money for that flight he is charging someone for a service, and if he is unauthorised that is a violation of the regulations," said Mr Adderley.

Byron Ferguson, president of the Bahamian Pilots Alliance, said the problem is real, but "it is a government issue the authorities need to regulate".

Aviation safety inspector Delvin Major said the problems with oversight and enforcement are not the result of corruption among officials.

"Our hands are tied because a lot of the times the passengers are in cahoots," he said.

Inspector Major said pilots brief passengers "well in advance" about what to say if an inspector comes to ask questions, and they arrange for payment at the destination point.

"We at Flight Standards have been doing ramp checks, heightened surveillance. The problem we run into is that when we go to approach the pilots and the passengers they will say, 'This is my boy, my family, we are catching a ride'. The passengers are in collusion with the pilots, so it makes our job difficult," he said.

Flights by hackers are cheaper because they do not pay commercial liability insurance, do not spend money on approved maintenance programmes for their aircraft, do not spend money on pilot training programmes, and are not held to the same standards, said Inspector Major.

Commercial insurance for five-seater aircraft could cost $15,000 per year; maintenance could cost about $80,000 per year; and pilot training could cost $15,000 per year, according to one established pilot. "There are a lot of fees involved," he said, including terminal fees, passenger facility charges and security fees.

"It is very unsafe and it is not worth it to put your family or yourself at risk to save $20 or $30," said Inspector Major.

He said passengers usually come clean only after an accident happens.

Two recent accidents involved aircraft that were not licensed to operate charters - one of them the twin engine aircraft that crashed on Bimini in May, in which two people died.

"That was not an authorised charter operation. I am not saying the pilot was operating a charter flight, but he was not one of the regulated authorisied charter operators," said Inspector Major.

The offence of hacking does not carry criminal penalties, which is something the authorities would like to change.

"If we can prove that a passenger paid for the flight, there are a lot of civil penalties we can levy against the pilots.

"We would suggest to the government to make it a criminal offence. Haul these guys in to court, seize their planes," said Inspector Major.