36. When a Plane Crash Isn't a Plane Crash But Could Be
October 18, 2010, 08:00:00AM. By Gordon Gibb
Billings, MT: When is a plane crash not a plane crash? When the plane crash didn't happen—but could have. By the grace of God and luck, a 19-passenger plane with an issue affecting the right engine was allowed to make 80 flights while the engine was still in need of repair.
The Associated Press (AP) reported on the airplane crash that (thankfully) wasn't an airplane crash on October 15th. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed on October 13th that a feeder airline doing business as Corporate Air should be fined $455,000 for allowing the flights in spite of needed repairs.
Specifically a Beech 1900C twin-engine turboprop plane with a capacity for 19 passengers was plagued by excessive oil loss in the right engine. The FAA report revealed that mechanics routinely kept adding oil following the landing of the plane, in spite of explicit directions in the engine manufacturer's service manual to make repairs as needed.