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I 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF HEARINGS 

WASHINGTON, DC 

4 In the Matter of, 

5 WORLDWIDE AIRCRAFT 

SERVICES, INC., 

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Docket No. FAA-2013-0045 

Case No. 2009S0150216 

Respondent. 

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_________________________ / 

DATE: 

TIME: 

PLACE: 

REPORTED BY: 

HEARING 

March 5, 2014 

9:10 a.m. - 4:40 p.m. 

George E. Edgecomb Courthouse 

800 East Twiggs Street, Room 53A 

Tampa, Florida 33602 

Laura Morales, FPR 

Notary Public, State of Florida at 

Large 

Pages 1 to 265 

19 The above-entitled cause came on for hearing 

20 before the Honorable J.E. Sullivan, Administrative 

21 Law Judge, pursuant to notice. 

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25 
Hearing 

Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. 

1 APPEARANCES: 

2 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

J.E. SULLIVAN U.S. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE 

3 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. (Ell-310) 

Washington, DC 20590 

4 Phone: 202-366-6941 

5 

6 APPEARANCES FOR THE AGENCY 

7 OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL COUNSEL SOUTHERN REGION 

BY: WILLIAM VINES, ESQUIRE 

8 P.O. Box 20636 

Atlanta, Georgia 30320 

9 Phone: 404-305-5200 

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11 APPEARANCES FOR THE RESPONDENT 

12 WORLDWIDE AIRCRAFT SERVICES, INC. 

BY: MICHAEL HONEYCUTT 

13 2561 Rescue Way 

Brooksville, Florida 34604 

14 Phone: 352-796-2540 

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16 ALSO PRESENT: 

17 Paul Bowen 

18 Michael Singleton 

19 Martha Farmer 

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3/5/2014 
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Direct Cross Redirect Recross 

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Witnesses for 

Brian Fanning 

Brandon P1as 

Paul Kahler 

Robert Donahue 

No. 

C-1 

C-17 

C-18 

C-10 

C-11 

C-6A, B 

C-8A, B 

C-4A to C-4C 

C-2 

C-3A to C-3J 

C-9 

C-13A to C130 

C-4D 

C-4E 

C-14A 

C-12 

the Agency: 

32 45 

58 74 

79 159 164 

185 241 

E X H I B I T S 

Description 

Request for Hearing 

Order No. FAA-2153B 

Table of Sanctions 

Letter from Brian Fanning 

Log Entry 

Frank Schaefer's Statement 

Brandon Plas' Statement 

Brandon P1as' Flight Log 

Air Carrier Certificate 

Operation Specifications 

Eric Price's Statement 

General Operations Manual 

5/12/09 Flight Log 

5/14/09 Flight Log 

Mr. Kahler's Certified Letter 

GPU Description 

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P R 0 C E E D I N G S 

THE COURT: We're on the record in the 

matter of Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. This 

is Docket No. FAA-2013-0045. Today is Wednesday, 

March 5, 2014, and the parties have convened in 

Tampa, Florida for a hearing in this matter. 

The FAA is represented by its attorney 

of record, Mr. Vines. The Respondent, Worldwide 

Aircraft Services, is represented by Mr. 

Honeycutt. 

We've had a brief delay to the start of 

the hearing impart because we had a traffic 

problem for our court reporter. She is now 

present with us. Thank you for joining us. 

As I understand it during a brief 

informal colloquy between the Court and the 

parties, Mr. Vines is going to call three 

witnesses this morning, a Brian Fanning, Mr. 

Plas, and a Mr. Kahler and then will be 

presenting the rest of his witnesses, including 

Ms. Farmer this afternoon. 

Typically, what we'll do is we'll take 

a very brief morning recess between now and say 

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11:45. It'll be about five or 10 minutes, and 

I'll check in with the parties about how much 

time you'll need. We'll also take a lunch break, 

probably between 11:45 and noon to one, depending 

on what the parties, where the parties are in the 

presentation in the case, and then we're 

scheduled to recess at 5:00 today, and then come 

back tomorrow from a 9 to 5 second hearing date. 

If we don't use the entire day tomorrow, that's 

fine, but it is reserved for us in the event that 

we need it. 

Mr. Vines, as I understand it, Ms. 

Farmer is seated at the counsel table with you 

and will be assisting you at the counsel table; 

is that correct? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

And, Mr. Honeycutt, Mr. Bowen, a friend 

of your's, is seated at the counsel table with 

you and will also be assisting you? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Is Mr. Bowen planning to 

testify? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, are there any 

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preliminary matters in terms of stipulations, 

motions in limine, any kind of narrowing between 

the issues between the parties since we last 

spoke? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Do you have a copy of all 

of your exhibits that you are planning to provide 

to the Court and the court reporter now? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Where would they be? 

MR. VINES: With me, Judge. 

THE COURT: It would be helpful if we 

had them. Thank you so much. Do you have the 

originals or did you file the originals? 

MR. VINES: I have the originals with 

me to use. 

THE COURT: Okay. You are going to use 

those? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. I'll 

hand a copy to the court reporter. 

Mr. Honeycutt, do you have a copy for 

me and the court reporter? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I just 

intend to use the FAA's exhibits as my exhibits. 

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THE COURT: Okay. So these will be 

basically all of the exhibits that both parties 

are going to rely upon? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Mr. Vines, anything else that we need 

to address before you begin, did you want to make 

a short opening, or do you want to leap right 

into testimony? 

MR. VINES: Judge, I do intend to make 

an opening statement. Judge, at this time, I 

would also like to invoke the rule to exclude all 

the witnesses who intend to testify. 

However, with two exceptions, one with 

regard to Inspector Farmer, she is going to 

testify regarding the evidence that supports the 

Administrator's sanction, and as a result, I'd 

ask that she be able to remain in the courtroom 

for that reason. However, she is also going to 

serve as a Technical Advisor for me during this 

hearing. 

The other exception I would ask, Judge, 

that you make is Inspector Mike Singleton, he is 

an Aviation Safety Inspector and his 

concentration is specifically on maintenance. He 

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is going to opine, Judge, as to whether or not 

some of the discrepancies that the FAA has found 

with regard to a certain aircraft that was 

utilized by Worldwide Aircraft, that those 

discrepancies do, in fact, what's the word I'm 

looking for, require that or, excuse me, they do, 

in fact, establish that there was a maintenance 

irregularity or a maintenance discrepancy and for 

a failure, a malfunction of the airframe of that 

aircraft. 

Because of that, Judge, he will be 

listening to the testimony. So it is to opine 

those opinions. So for that reason, I would also 

ask that he also be allowed to remain in the 

courtroom. 

THE COURT: So essentially you want Mr. 

Singleton to remain in the courtroom because you 

are going to call upon him to utilize the 

testimony he hears as part of potentially an 

expert opinion? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Any other motions in 

limine before I turn to Mr. Honeycutt? 

MR. VINES: Judge, I have three 

exhibits I would offer into evidence at this 

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time. Two of the exhibits are Agency policies, 

they are agency orders that are published to the 

public. Those are Administrator Exhibits C-17 

and C-18. 

THE COURT: And what would be the third 

exhibit? 

MR. VINES: Third exhibit would be 

Administrator's Exhibit C-1. 

Judge, this is a statement from the 

Respondent, Mr. Mike Honeycutt, who represents 

the Respondent. It is a letterhead from JET 

I.C.U establishing or showing, essentially on 

paragraph one, the complaint (inaudible) of the 

hearing and that the Agency received notice of 

that request. 

THE COURT: That is already apart of 

the official record, Counsel, why would you need 

it as an exhibit? 

MR. VINES: I'll refer to your 

judgment, Judge. 

THE COURT: I'm just curious as to why 

you would need it as an exhibit. Is it simply to 

perfect the record or some other reason? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge, to perfect the 

record. 

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THE COURT: Okay. Anything else? 

MR. VINES: No, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, let me turn 

to you, and we'll start with your response to the 

FAA's motions, and then I'll go to your motions 

if have any. Do you have any objection to the 

motion to exclude witnesses with the exception of 

Ms. Farmer and or Mr. Singleton? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor, I 

would like to object to Ms. Farmer and Mr. 

Singleton being able to remain in the courtroom 

during testimony. 

THE COURT: And on what grounds? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Well Ms. Farmer is here 

to testify. I'm not really sure what her 

testimony is based on. 

THE COURT: Yeah, you want to address 

it to me 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm sorry. 

THE COURT: and then if I need Mr. 

Vines to explain all of that, I'll let him know. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. Again, I'm 

not exactly sure what Ms. Farmer is here -- what 

her role here is. 

THE COURT: Okay. And what about 

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Mr. Singleton? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Mr. Singleton is here 

to testify on maintenance issues, and he wants to 

listen in and determine if this is where he is 

going to make the determination if there was 

damage or irregularities. He can't do that based 

on the evidence presented to him during 

testimony, during his 

THE COURT: Well, there is, in general, 

a regulation or a rule that is commonly used in 

court proceedings, and it used to be very common 

prior to the rules of evidence actually being 

adopted by both the Federal Government and states 

where expert witnesses would come and sit through 

part or all of the trials, listen to all of the 

testimony, and then when it was their turn to 

testify, they could utilize the descriptions and 

information that they heard during the trial or 

the hearing as part of the basis performing and 

expressing an opinion. 

Without going into a lot of history, 

the rules of evidence were ultimately adopted so 

that people impart would not need to hire experts 

and pay them to sit through hours and days of 

testimony, they could just give them data outside 

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of the courtroom and allow them to read it and 

then come for a short period of time and testify 

based on that data. But people still 

occasionally will have experts come and sit in 

the courtroom and listen to all or part of the 

testimony and utilize that information as part of 

their opinion. 

So as I understand it from the FAA, 

that's what they intend to do with one of their 

witnesses, and they are requesting the grant of 

allowing this witness to stay in the courtroom to 

do that. 

Do you have any particular objection 

beyond that which you've offered so far to Mr. 

Singleton remaining in the courtroom? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Again, Mr. Singleton is 

going to testify to I guess the severity of 

damage, and I don't understand listening to 

witnesses how he is going to come to that 

conclusion based on their statements. 

I mean, you know, at the end of the day 

an inspector is going to determine if something 

is functioning or not functioning. It shouldn't 

be based on I believe the statement of the 

witness, more so on the actual evidence that is 

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presented to him. 

THE COURT: Yeah, I think this is Mr. 

Singleton, not Mr. Schafer, but essentially, part 

of your ability as a responding party to 

cross-examine the witness after his direct is 

finished, to expose any weaknesses of that 

testimony and the bases for it. 

So I will simply note your objection. 

I'll respectfully grant the motion over the 

objection to allow Mr. Singleton to remain in the 

courtroom. 

In terms of Ms. Farmer, as I understand 

it from our last telephone conference last week 

and then from the representations by Mr. Vines 

today, her testimony is going to be limited to 

the FAA's assessment of the proposed penalty, 

and, as such, she is not going to be testifying 

as to the violations at all. 

Assuming, and as I understand it from 

Mr. Vines, she is also the chosen representative 

of his client, the FAA, to assist at counsel 

table, and the FAA has the ability to send 

someone to assist counsel, and they've chosen Ms. 

Farmer. 

So I will ask you if there is any other 

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objection to her presence? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection to her 

presence, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Okay. Are you maintaining 

your objection or are you withdrawing your 

objection because I need to know that for the 

record? You had originally objected. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I object. I retain my 

objection. 

THE COURT: Okay. Then I will note 

your objection. I will respectfully grant the 

motion over objection. I will grant the motion 

to exclude unless you have a bases, Mr. 

Honeycutt, for any of your witnesses to stay in 

the hearing room because the motion to exclude 

includes everyone. 

Do you have anyone in the courtroom 

that you have a bases to have stay in the 

courtroom as a witness that you would like to 

talk about? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Okay. Then I will grant 

the motion to exclude. 

I'll thank everyone in the courtroom 

who is presently sitting as a witness. You are 

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welcome to excuse yourself at this point. Please 

stay available for testimony. Mr. Honeycutt's 

witnesses I don't think will need to come back 

until this afternoon at the very earliest. 

Everyone else is free to go at this point except 

for Ms. Farmer and Mr. Singleton. 

MR. VINES: Judge, are you aware if 

there is a witness-sequestration room? 

THE COURT: I don't think there is one 

available here. 

THE BAILIFF: There is a witness room, 

and it is over there. 

closed. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you so much. 

I'm going to ask if the door can be 

THE BAILIFF: Absolutely. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Mr. Honeycutt, let's talk about the 

three exhibits. There's been a motion to admit 

C-1, C-17, and C-18. Do you have any objection 

to admit, at this time, C-1 which is the 

February 15, 2013 Respondent request for hearing 

that you filed on behalf of your client? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection, your 

Honor. 

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THE COURT: C-1 is hereby admitted. 

(Whereupon, the document was marked as C-1 for 

identification and admitted into evidence.) 

THE COURT: What about Exhibit C-17? 

C-17 is apparently entitled Appendix B Table 

Sanctions, and before I ask you for your 

response, Mr. Honeycutt, let me turn back to 

Mr. Vines. 

Mr. Vines, how much of Appendix B Table 

of Sanctions is actually included in C-17, is it 

the full unabridged copy or is it simply a 

partial copy of that regulation? 

MR. VINES: Judge, it is the entire 

Appendix B that is found contained in FAA order 

21538, and it is the most recent version. 

THE COURT: I'm sorry, it was the what 

version? 

MR. VINES: Most recent version. 

THE COURT: Okay. So no editing, no 

strikes, no redaction, nothing? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Please site for us 

the citation again so that it is clear. 

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MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

2153B as in boy, Appendix B. 

FAA order 

THE COURT: And where can that be found 

by the general public? 

MR. VINES: Judge, in my discovery, I 

believe in the initial disclosures that the FAA 

filed in this case, there is a reference or 

website reference to where the public can find 

this order. 

Judge, I can pull that and actually 

give you the website if you would like, otherwise 

it is contained in the document that has been 

filed with the Court. 

THE COURT: Please pull it and give it 

to us so that the record is perfected and if Mr. 

Honeycutt would like to look it up, he can. 

MR. VINES: Judge, it is a rather 

lengthy website address, but I'll attempt to go 

through it now. It is 

http://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/order/21 

50.3%20B%20w-chg%204.pdf. 

THE COURT: And, Mr. Vines, just so 

that it is clear, how would a responding party 

know about this other than knowing this 

particular website address, is there something 

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that notifies everyone where this is and why it 

is there or is this basically the only way the 

public is notified? 

MR. VINES: Judge, I can't give you a 

play by play as to what website to start with, 

but I will represent that by a simple search on 

Google, Yahoo, or one of the common search 

engines, you can type in this order No. FAA2153B 

and results will provide to you lengths to obtain 

this. 

Also, Judge, as ligative of the website 

address that I just referenced, it is contained 

on the FAA Website. If you go to the FAA 

Website, you can navigate through it and look for 

FAA Enforcement Policies, and you will initially 

be able to come to this particular order. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

MR. VINES: I'll represent to the Court 

that it is not obscure. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Mr. Honeycutt, any objection to the 

admission of Exhibit C-17? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. 

THE COURT: There being no objection, 

Exhibit C-17 will be admitted. 

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(Whereupon, the document was marked as C-17 

for identification and admitted into 

evidence.) 

THE COURT: And then let's talk about 

C-18, Mr. Vines, for a moment. 

Can you describe Exhibit C-18 for us? 

MR. VINES: Judge Exhibit C-18 is an 

exert again from FAA Order 2153B. 

entire Chapter 7 of that order. 

It is the 

THE COURT: And is this accessed with 

the same website that you just read into the 

record for Exhibit C-17? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: And is it also available to 

the public by a general search either on the FAA 

Website or by a Google search? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: And what relevance does 

Exhibit C-18 have to this proceeding? 

MR. VINES: C-18 again is an exert from 

the order, specifically Chapter 7, this 

references the Agency's Sanctions, Guides and 

Policies. It is a reference to the different 

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mitigating or aggravating factors that the FAA 

uses when calculating or proposing a civil 

penalty, Judge. 

THE COURT: So this is essentially 

something that will be utilized or referenced in 

the testimony the FAA will present regarding the 

proposed penalty in this case? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, any 

objection to the admission of Exhibit C-18? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Exhibit C-18 is hereby 

admitted. 

(Whereupon, the document was marked as C-18 

for identification and admitted into 

evidence.) 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, does that finish 

up your motions in limine at this point? 

MR. VINES: Yes, judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you so much. 

Mr. Honeycutt, turning to you, do you 

have any motions in limine that you would like to 

address for the Court before we call witnesses? 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: No, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Vines had 

indicated a brief interest or an interest in 

doing a brief opening, do you have any interest 

in doing an opening now or would you like to 

reserve that until the presentation of your case 

in chief? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I would reserve my 

right. 

THE COURT: So reserved. 

Mr. Vines, would you like to take a 

minutes to do a brief opening? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 

MR. VINES: Judge, the Respondent, 

Worldwide Aircraft Services, has admitted 

paragraph two of the complaint, which alleges 

that the Respondent was and is currently the 

holder of an Air Carrier Certificate No. 

few 

W50A880L. As a result, the Agency will show that 

the Respondent is authorized by the FAA to 

conduct Part 135 Operations and is subject to the 

regulations therein. 

The Respondent admitted that on or 

about May 3, 2009 operated Civil Aircraft N90LJ, 

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a Learjet 250, as in dog, on the flight from T as 

in Tom, D as in dog, P as in Paul, D as in dog to 

MYAM; M as in man, Y as in yellow, A as in alpha, 

M as in man under Part 135, the Aviation 

Regulations. 

Judge, if I can pause, I just wanted 

to -- if I can address the court reporter, 

sometimes it is my nature to talk very quickly or 

perhaps mumble, if that is the case, please 

interrupt me and inform me of that so I can 

change my speed pattern. 

THE COURT: And the court reporter will 

notify me if she has trouble, and I will let you 

know. I have found typically that if I have 

trouble, the court reporter has trouble. 

If you could identify what these 

initials are for TDPD and MYAM, that would be 

helpful. 

MR. VINES: Judge, those are airport 

codes, and the specific cities will be referred 

to throughout the testimony. 

THE COURT: I do understand they are 

airport codes, but what do they stand for, what 

cities are you talking about? 

I'll note that Ms. Farmer has addressed 

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the Court. 

Ms. Farmer, you may not address the 

Court. 

MS. FARMER: Oh, I can't? 

THE COURT: No, you can only whisper to 

Mr. Vines who is the official representative, but 

thank you for your help. 

If you don't know, I'll simply look 

forward to hearing about it during the case in 

chief. Thank you. Go ahead. 

MR. VINES: As to count one, Judge, the 

Agency will prove by preponderance of the 

evidence that the Respondent, Worldwide Aircraft 

Services, violated 14CFR135.21 Alpha and 135.65C 

as in Charlie. 

As to Part 135.21A, the Agency will 

show that the Respondent violated the Federal 

Aviation Regulation on or about May 3, 2009. An 

employee of the Respondent, Captain Brandon Plas, 

learned that Civil Aircraft N90LJ sustained 

damage to its ground power unit receptacle, which 

is also referred to as the GPU receptacle, but 

failed to document the discrepancy on Worldwide 

Aircraft's maintenance discrepancy form, which is 

required by Worldwide's General Operations 

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Manual, and as a result, is contrary to the 

regulation which requires Part 135 Operator's 

Flight Personnel use the General Operations 

Manual. 

The Respondent has admitted its General 

Operations Manual, Section E-3 which states the 

following, Judge --

THE COURT: And, Counsel, I have a copy 

of your amended compliant, as well as the full 

complaint, and you don't need to read to me what 

that says. 

So I understand that there is a General 

Operations Manual that the Respondent may or may 

not have with the Sections E-3 and Section F-1 

that are a particular importance. 

need to read those. Thank you. 

So you don't 

MR. VINES: Judge, if it is okay with 

the Court, I'll summarize those particular 

sections that require the company to document a 

mechanical discrepancy or a mechanical 

irregularity. 

Among several witnesses that will be 

testifying on behalf of the Administrator, you 

will hear from FAA Aviation Inspector Mike 

Singleton. Inspector Singleton holds an FAA 

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issued Airframe-and-Power-Plant Certificate. 

He is expected to testify about the 

damage to the GPU receptacle, specifically that 

the medal pin or pins inside the receptacle were 

found to be bent or damaged, which prevented the 

ground power unit to properly attach to the 

aircraft and that that damage constitutes a 

''mechanical discrepancy'' and or ''mechanical 

irregularity." 

Judge, I'll also point out that the 

inspector's anticipated testimony has already 

been established by the hearings. I point your 

attention to FAA versus Sundance Air, Docket No. 

FAA-2004-17789. 

THE COURT: I'm sorry, could you repeat 

that, please, just the number. 

MR. VINES: FAA-2004-17789. 

THE COURT: Do you have a copy of that? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: I would love to have a 

copy, and you can provide it to me right before 

the recess. 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Do you have a copy for Mr. 

Honeycutt as well? 

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MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 

MR. VINES: There, the Administrative 

Law Judge, Richard Goodwin, decided the 

Administrator 8 Hartisan, which is NTSB Order No. 

EA-3997 

THE COURT: Well, Counsel, I'm going to 

stop you, you don't want to do argument right 

now. That is really more of an argument. 

So I will ask you to give me and Mr. 

Honeycutt a copy of the FAA versus Sundance Air 

case before we break for recess, but I would ask 

you to reserve your arguments about the law to 

closing argument. 

MR. VINES: Okay. 

THE COURT: If you have anything else 

that you would like to add to opening that you 

would like to prove with the witnesses and or 

with your exhibits, that would be great. 

MR. VINES: By virtue of the foregoing, 

including the testimony of Captain Brandon Plas, 

as well as the testimony of Safety Inspector Mike 

Singleton, the Agency expects to show that 

Worldwide failed to document the discrepancy to 

the GP receptacle, and as a result, failed to 

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ensure that its flight personnel used its General 

Operations Manual when conducting its operations, 

which is a violation of Part 135.21A. 

Similarly, Judge, the Agency will show 

that the Respondent violated Part 135.65C on or 

about May 7, 2009. Another employee of the 

Respondent, Mechanic Brian Fanning, observed 

damage to a non-structural section of the 

fuselage skin at the GPU receptacle on the same 

aircraft and that aircraft being N90LJ. Fanning 

chose to defer the damage at a later date, but 

did not record the deferral on aircraft 

maintenance log as required by Part 135.65C. 

Again, Inspector Singleton will testify 

to the damage of the fuselage skin constitutes a 

failure of malfunction of the airframe and when 

deferred for a period at a later time must be 

recorded in the aircraft maintenance log. The 

Agency will show that Worldwide violated Part 

135.65C when the company deferred an action 

concerning a reported or observed failure of 

malfunction of the airframe and failed to record 

the deferral. 

THE COURT: So as I understand it from 

all of the pleadings that are in this file, as 

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well as your opening, you have two violations 

that you are planing to prove. One that occurred 

on or about May 3, 2009, one that occurred on or 

about May 7, 2009, and you have a witness who 

will testify that the appropriate penalty 

pursuant to FAA policy is approximately $12,375? 

MR. VINES: That's correct, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. So two counts and 

one total proposed penalty. 

Do you have the first witness that you 

would like to call? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge, Brian Fanning. 

THE COURT: Officer, could you go and 

get Mr. Fanning? 

THE BAILIFF: Yes, Judge. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor 

THE COURT: Yes, if you'll wait for 

just a moment, Mr. Honeycutt. 

Mr. Fanning, before you take a seat, 

could you raise your right hand. 

THE WITNESS: Yes. 

THE COURT: Do you swear to tell the 

truth and nothing but the truth in this 

proceeding? 

THE WITNESS: I do. 

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BRIAN FANNING, after having been duly 

sworn, was examined and testified as follows: 

THE COURT: Please take a seat. 

And before we start with your 

testimony, Mr. Honeycutt. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. During 

Mr. Fanning's testimony, during cross, I would 

like to also be able to direct, be able to call 

him back as a witness for us -- if I could do 

both, cross and direct? 

THE COURT: Why don't we do this, the 

direct of the FAA and then your cross, and then 

we can take up your motion to take a witness out 

of the order. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

THE COURT: So can you do that, will 

you be able to do that, do the cross of what you 

hear before we go to direct? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, there has been a 

motion to take Mr. Fanning's testimony out of 

order, do you have any comment about that? 

MR. VINES: At this time no, Judge. 

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THE COURT: Okay. 

Before I make a ruling, Mr. Honeycutt, 

is it your intention to try and take all 

witnesses out of order, or is there some reason 

why we need to take Mr. Fanning's testimony? Why 

would you want to take it out of order? It makes 

the record a lot more difficult for appeal 

purposes. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: This is really between 

Mr. Plas and Mr. Fanning as the FAA's two 

witnesses that if I could cross and direct, I 

wouldn't have to call I believe after that. 

wouldn't have to present. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm sorry, your 

Honor --

I 

THE COURT: Just so I know, we have a 

list of witness exchange which I have, and I know 

that you've identified almost -- well, I should 

say many of the same witnesses that Mr. Vines had 

identified. 

So of the witnesses that Mr. Vines has 

identified, are the only two that you are 

planning to call now in your case in chief are 

now Mr. Fanning and Mr. Plas and not the other 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: I will call the other 

witnesses, your Honor. I think that the meat of 

the case for the FAA lies on Mr. Fanning's 

testimony and Mr. Plas' testimony. 

THE COURT: Okay. Is there some reason 

that they cannot come back for your own case in 

chief; is there some problem? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. Mr. Plas I 

can't speak for, but Mr. Fanning --

THE COURT: Let me check in because I 

don't want to start muddying the waters too soon 

because there is a lot of information that needs 

to come out. 

Mr. Fanning, are you not available for 

later on today or tomorrow as a witness? 

THE WITNESS: No, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 

I'll note your motion to take testimony 

out of order, and I'm going to respectfully deny 

it at this point. I think it is going to be much 

more efficacious if we take testimony in the 

order in which it should be presented. 

So you're welcome to cross this witness 

as you'd like and then to recall him for your own 

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chase in chief. If the FAA gets done before the 

end of the day today, maybe we can squeeze 

Mr. Fanning and Mr. Plas in right away so they 

don't have to come in tomorrow. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor. Thank 

you. 

THE COURT: Mr. Fanning, since you've 

been seated and presumptively are comfortable 

now, will you please state your name and spell 

your last name for the record. 

THE WITNESS: Brian Fanning, 

F-A-N-N-I-N-G. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Counsel, you may inquire. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

16 - - -

17 DIRECT EXAMINATION 

18 - - - - -

19 BY MR. VINES: 

20 Q. Mr. Fanning, my name is Will Vines. I introduced 

21 myself earlier. I'm representing the Agency FAA in 

22 this matter. I'm going to ask you some questions. If 

23 you can't understand me, please ask me to repeat the 

24 question or if I mumble through it, please ask me to 

25 repeat the question. Please don't assume the question 

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1 I'm asking. Please make sure you've heard me and you 

2 are clear in understanding my question, please. 

3 

4 

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7 

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10 

11 

12 

THE COURT: So that I can hear you to, 

Mr. Vines, could you speak up a little bit. 

THE WITNESS: I don't hear very well 

either. 

THE COURT: And you are welcome to use 

the podium if you'd like, but you are welcome to 

stay back there with your materials, but speak 

up, please. 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

13 BY MR. VINES: 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Mr. Fanning, where are you employed? 

JET I.C.U. 

And is that also known as Worldwide Aircraft? 

Yes. 

How long have you been with the company? 

Almost seven years. 

And what do you do for the company? 

I'm the Chief of Maintenance. 

How long have you held that designation? 

Almost seven years. 

What are your duties as the Chief of Maintenance? 

Maintain the aircraft. 

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1 Q. Will you please go into more detail as by what 

2 you mean, maintain the aircraft. 

3 A. They are on a scheduled-maintenance program. 

4 Every so many hours or calendar days, they have to 

5 have maintenance performed on them. If anything 

6 breaks, a non-routine item, I repair that also. I'm 

7 responsible for ordering parts, keeping records, 

8 anything that has to do with the aircraft. 

9 

10 

11 

12 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

And you hold an FAA Certificate; is that correct? 

Yes, I do. 

And what certificate is that? 

I hold an A-and-P License, 

13 Airframe-and-Power-Plant license, and I also hold an 

14 Inspector's Authorization in IA. 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A license in IA? 

Yes. 

And what does that allow you to do? 

Inspect the aircraft due to annual inspections. 

How long have you held both of those designations 

20 and by those designations, I mean your A and P and IA? 

21 A. My A and P since 1992, and I've had my IA for 

22 just over two years now. 

23 Q. Are you familiar with an aircraft by the number 

24 of N90LJ? 

25 A. Yes, I am. 

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2 

3 

Q. Okay. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

4 BY MR. VINES: 

5 Q. I'm going to show you what's been marked as 

6 Exhibit C-10. If you could take a look at that for 

7 me, please. Do you recognize that document? 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, I do. 

Did you prepare that document? 

Yes. 

Is that your signature at the bottom? 

Yes, it is. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, at this time, I 

move to admit Exhibit C-10 into evidence. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection, Judge. 

THE COURT: Exhibit C-10 is hereby 

18 admitted. 

19 - - - - -

20 (Whereupon, the document was marked as C-10 

21 for identification and admitted into 

22 evidence.) 

23 - - - - -

24 BY MR. VINES: 

25 Q. Do you recall having to inspect Aircraft N90LJ on 

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1 or about May 7, 2009? 

2 A. Yes, I don't recall the date but yes. 

3 Q. Okay. How did that come about? 

4 A. To be honest, I can't remember if it was a phone 

5 call or if one of the pilots was at the hanger at the 

6 time. Somebody asked me to go look at 90 Linda, 

7 Julia, and they said there might be an issue with the 

8 ground power plug. 

9 So I went out to the aircraft and looked at it. 

10 Everything looked normal, went and got the ground 

11 power unit, plugged it in, turned it on, turned the 

12 aircraft on. Everything powered up normal. 

13 Everything seemed to be fine, shut it down and told 

14 them everything was okay. 

15 Q. And that is in reference to what is called the 

16 GPU receptacle? 

A. Correct. 

Q. What is the GPU receptacle? 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. It is where the ground power unit plugs into the 

aircraft to provide electricity for the aircraft. 

Q. And a GPU unit? 

A. Ground power unit, correct. 

Q. And what is that? 

A. That is basically the power for the aircraft. It 

is like a generator. It is like an electric 

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1 generator. You plug it in and poof, it provides 

2 voltage for the aircraft. 

3 Q. Okay. And upon your inspection of the -- and the 

4 GPU receptacle is what is part of the aircraft; is 

5 that a fair statement? 

6 

7 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, that is a fair statement. 

And it was your observation that the GPU 

8 receptacle was operating normally? 

9 

10 

A. 

Q. 

Correct. 

Okay. Did you document -- let me back up, in 

11 your letter, referencing Exhibit C-10, you referenced 

12 that there was an issue with the small piece of skin 

13 just after the receptacle in the second paragraph, did 

14 you observe an issue with the airframe on that 

15 aircraft while you were inspecting the GPU receptacle? 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

No, not actually. 

Okay. Now in your statement it says, if I could 

18 refer you to your statement, it says on the second 

19 paragraph, ''After inspection of the aircraft, the 

20 receptacle internal and external skin surfaces just 

21 aft of frame 26 and the plug itself, I found a small 

22 amount of damage to the non-structural section of the 

23 fuselage skin just aft of the receptacle." 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

Correct. 

All right. Is it your statement today that your 

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1 statement that you wrote on June 16, 2009 is 

2 incorrect? 

3 

4 

5 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, to a point, correct. 

Okay. By to a point, what do you mean? 

The first letter that I had written on this 

6 subject and given to Paul Kahler stated that there was 

7 no damage found to the aircraft whatsoever. His 

8 response to me was, ''That's not what I want, that is 

9 not going to fly. Give me what I want, and everything 

10 

11 

will be fine. This will go away. This will just be a 

letter in your file for two years. It will be 

12 internal, nothing will happen. Once that's ground, 

13 this will all be over with." 

14 So I was kind of new dealing with the FAA, even 

15 though I've been an AP for a long time, I come from an 

16 airline background, but we didn't deal with the FAA 

17 

18 

that often. 

he wants. 

So I felt fine. I'll just give him what 

I'll put something down. I put it down, 

19 handed it to him and he said, "that's better.'' 

20 

21 

Here we're five years later, and we're in court 

anyway. So I should have just stuck with what I 

22 originally gave him, which was a different letter than 

23 what you're seeing here. Everything is the same 

24 except for it said, ''No damage was found to the 

25 aircraft. He didn't want that. He didn't like that. 

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1 Q. Do you have a copy of that letter you originally 

2 wrote? 

3 A. No, the letter was written by hand, and then he 

4 asked that it be put on company letterhead, which at 

5 that time our secretary Lisa rewrote the letter. She 

6 

7 

8 

9 

wrote both letters. She wrote the first one and the 

second one, of course, we threw it away. I didn't 

think this was going to be an issue. So the letter 

I'm sure was just tossed. I mean, this is five years 

10 ago. 

11 Q. Okay. Now it is true that a short time after you 

12 inspected N90LJ on May 7, 2009, the GPU was repaired 

13 on that aircraft, correct? 

14 A. No, it wasn't repaired, it was replaced, but it 

15 wasn't repaired. 

16 

17 

MR. VINES: Judge, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

18 BY MR. VINES: 

19 Q. As the Chief of Maintenance, you are 

20 familiar with -- as you testified earlier, you are 

21 familiar with N90LJ? 

22 

23 

A. 

Q. 

Correct. 

Which is an aircraft that JET I.C.U. uses for 

24 Part 135 Operations? 

25 A. Correct. 

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1 Q. And as Chief of Maintenance, is it part of your 

2 responsibility to maintain or review the aircraft 

3 records? 

4 

5 

6 

A. Yes, I would say yes. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: Yes. 

7 BY MR. VINES: 

8 Q. I'm going to show you what's been marked as C-11. 

9 Do you recognize that document? 

10 A. Yeah, it was replaced. The receptacle was 

11 replaced. That's what I just told you. 

12 Q. Okay. Are you able to state whether or not that 

13 maintenance entry is in the aircraft records of N90LJ? 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

It should be, yes. 

Okay. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, at this time, I 

would move to enter Exhibit C-11. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection, your 

Honor. 

THE COURT: As I understand it, I need 

to have this witness qualify or testify whether 

or not he recognizes C-11, and I haven't heard 

that yet. 

MR. VINES: Okay. 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

Q. Do you again 

A. Yes, I recognize this, yes. 

Q. Okay. How do you recognize it? 

A. It's a log entry. It's part of the aircraft's 

log records. 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

Q. And that's a log entry for Aircraft N90LJ? 

10 

11 

A. Correct. 

THE COURT: Exhibit C-11 is hereby 

admitted without objection. 

MR. VINES: Thank you. 

12 - - - - -

13 (Whereupon, the document was marked as C-11 

14 for identification and admitted into 

15 evidence.) 

16 - - - - -

17 BY MR. VINES: 

18 Q. And, Mr. Fanning, what does that maintenance 

19 entry indicate? 

20 

21 

A. 

Q. 

That the receptacle was replaced. 

Does it reference any other maintenance that was 

22 done on the aircraft? 

23 A. It says replaced GPO receptacle, replaced GPO 

24 mounting brackets, reworked area below GPO receptacle, 

25 all work is done in accordance with maintenance. 

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1 Q. I'd like to turn your attention to Exhibit C-11, 

2 No. 3. 

3 

4 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

It says reworked area aft below GPU receptacle, 

5 installed 2024-T3.040 doubler and filler, per 20/30 

6 Series SRM Chapter so forth and so on, correct? 

7 

8 

A. 

Q. 

Right. 

In your -- as a mechanic, are you able to 

9 interpret what that means? 

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A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

And what does that --

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I object to 

the question. What is the relevance of the 

worked area aft the GPU receptacle? 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the grounds of relevance. Do you have a 

response? 

MR. VINES: Judge, it goes to show that 

that there was replacement to damage to the 

aircraft, which is what's in question. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: But, your Honor, the 

witness can't testify to what was done or not 

done. He can only testify to what he's done. 

You are asking him to --

MR. VINES: That wasn't my question. 

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THE COURT: You address it to me. 

Mr. Vines, you may not interrupt Mr. 

Honeycutt when he is talking to me. 

MR. VINES: I'm sorry. 

THE COURT: So essentially, Mr. 

Honeycutt, we're talking about Exhibit C-11 and 

whether or not this witness has the ability to 

testify about what this means? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes. 

THE COURT: Okay. That is my 

understanding of your objection. 

Mr. Vines, your response to that 

objection is what? 

MR. VINES: Is that I'm not asking 

whether he is familiar or whether he made the 

repair, I'm asking him as a mechanic in his 

position of Chief of Maintenance if he is aware 

of what that means and what was done to the 

aircraft. 

THE COURT: Thank you. Your objection 

is noted and respectfully overruled. 

This witness has testified that he is 

familiar with the maintenance records and that 

part of his duty is to ensure that the 

maintenance records are filed. So I'm going to 

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allow the question and the answer. 

Sir, do you remember the question? 

THE WITNESS: Yes. 

THE COURT: You may answer. 

THE WITNESS: To me, the way I read it, 

is that he put a new receptacle in, a new 

ground-power unit in, and he put a doubler around 

that receptacle to strengthen it so it would be a 

re-enforced ground-power unit receptacle. 

You know, reworking the area around the 

receptacle is just to fit the doubler. So it 

could be anything, but I didn't do the work. 

This is five years ago, your Honor. 

don't remember what I had for breakfast this 

morning. 

THE COURT: I don't think there was a 

question opposed to you at that point, Mr. 

Fanning. So I'll respectfully strike that last 

statement. Thank you. 

MR. VINES: Nothing further for this 

witness, Judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Mr. Honeycutt, do you have any 

cross-examination? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor. 

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1 -----

2 CROSS-EXAMINATION 

3 - - - - -

4 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

5 Q. Mr. Fanning, the Exhibit C-11, do you still have 

6 it? 

7 

8 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

This log entry, does this constitute damage to 

9 the aircraft? 

10 

11 

A. 

Q. 

No, sir. 

Could this be considered and, in particular, No. 

12 3, an improvement to the aircraft? 

13 

14 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

Okay. Now, you talked about your statement that 

15 Mr. Kahler had you rewrite your letter? 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

Correct. 

And the reason again for Mr. Kahler asking you to 

18 rewrite the letter? 

19 A. Because in the original letter I stated that the 

20 aircraft was fine, and there was nothing wrong with 

21 it. Again, his statement to me was, ''That's not going 

22 to fly, you know, just give me what I want, and I'll 

23 put a letter in your file internally. It will go away 

24 after two years and unless you get in trouble in those 

25 two years, it will just go away." I just said, ''Fine, 

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1 I'll just give you what you want.'' 

2 The only thing I changed on it was basically I 

3 put that there was a dent or something in the 

4 aircraft. Aircrafts always have dents in them. They, 

5 you know, they are all over the aircraft. 

6 There wasn't a dent, but that was the only thing 

7 I could think of that would appease him that, you 

8 know, he would say, ''Okay, that's good. You gave me 

9 something that basically states I got you." So that's 

10 what I did. 

11 

12 

13 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Your letter is dated June 16, 2009? 

Okay. Yeah, it is. 

So that letter was written on June 16, 2009, is 

14 your testimony? 

15 

16 

A. 

Q. 

To the best of my ability yes, I guess. 

Did you mail the letter to the FAA or did Mr. 

17 Kahler take the letter? 

18 

19 

20 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I honestly don't know. I think Paul took it. 

Okay. 

But I'm not a hundred percent sure, but he also 

21 asked me to write it to Frank Schaefer, which I found 

22 kind of odd. 

23 Q. So the letter that Mr. Kahler told you to 

24 rewrite, the letter is drafted to Frank Schaefer? 

25 A. Correct. 

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1 

2 

Q. 

A. 

At the time Frank Schaefer was who? 

At the time he was our primary maintenance 

3 inspector. 

4 

5 

6 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Okay. And Paul Kahler was our? 

He was or OPS guy at the time. 

Let's go back to as counsel stated on May 7th, 

7 you inspected the aircraft? 

8 

9 

10 

11 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Okay. 

Yeah. 

I guess it was May 7th. 

I really don't know. If you say so. 

Do you remember a Frank Schaefer or Inspector 

12 Schaefer, Inspector Kahler, and Inspector Donahue, do 

13 you remember them coming out for any kind of 

14 investigation to that aircraft? 

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19 

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22 

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25 

A. 

Q. 

Not that day, no. 

Okay. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I don't 

have the exhibits marked as Respondent's Exhibit, 

do I? I want to bring in the witness, Inspector 

Schafer's statements and facts. 

THE COURT: Is this part of the FAA 

exhibit package? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor, it is. 

THE COURT: Then I'll ask Mr. Vines if 

he can provide that to you. 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Thank you. 

MR. VINES: I'm sorry, is the 

Respondent moving to admit this into evidence? 

THE COURT: I think he wants to use it 

in his inquiry with this witness. I haven't 

heard a motion to admit yet. 

MR. VINES: Okay. 

THE COURT: So if you would be so kind 

to offer that to Mr. Honeycutt, and we'll see 

what happens with it. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I would 

move to enter this as Exhibit C-6A and C-6B, 

which is the Complainant's exhibit. 

MR. VINES: No objection, Judge. 

THE COURT: Well, I need to know what 

they are, and I'm not sure if this witness can 

qualify them or not. 

So I have C-6A and C-6B and these are 

apparently -- this is, excuse me, a June 5, 2009 

witness statement by a Mr. Frank D. Schaefer, an 

Aviation Safety Inspector for the FAA. 

You are moving to admit that, Mr. 

Honeycutt, in your cross-examination of this 

witness? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

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THE COURT: And I hear no objection 

from Mr. Vines? 

MR. VINES: No objection. 

THE COURT: Exhibit C-6A and B is hereby 

admitted with no objection. 

(Whereupon, the document was marked as C-6A 

and C-6B for identification and admitted into 

evidence.) 

THE COURT: You may proceed. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Thank you, your Honor. 

THE COURT: I'll know that Mr. 

Honeycutt has approached the witness and has 

handed the witness Exhibit C-6A and B. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Sorry, your Honor. 

17 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

18 Q. Around the second paragraph if you'll just read 

19 that for me, please. 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

THE COURT: When you say the second 

paragraph, Mr. Honeycutt, are you talking about 

page A or page B? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm sorry, your Honor, 

C-6A. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

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1 THE WITNESS: June 4th? 

2 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

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Q. Yes, please. 

MR. VINES: Judge, I'm going to object 

to the witness reading the paragraph of the 

statement. The document speaks for itself, 

Judge. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the grounds that the document speaks for 

itself. 

Do you have any response, Mr. 

Honeycutt? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. Your Honor, I 

just want to publish the document. 

THE COURT: Okay. I'll note that the 

exhibit has already been admitted. Since there 

is no Jury, it is essentially published to me, 

and I have it before me, and I'm reading that 

paragraph silently to myself. 

I will sustain the objection. This 

witness does not need to read it to me, but are 

there questions that you would like to ask 

Mr. Fanning about this paragraph, or is there 

something to this paragraph that he can add to? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. Inspector 

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10 

Schaefer's statement talks about meeting with 

myself, Michael Honeycutt, Director of Operations 

Fred Judy, Chief Pilot, and Bill Honeycutt, 

Michael's father 

MR. VINES: Again, objection, Judge. 

THE COURT: Your objection is noted and 

respectfully overruled. I think this is a 

preliminary set up to a question. 

You may proceed. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Thank you, your Honor, 

11 and also that he met with other personnel at 

12 Worldwide Aircraft Services. 

13 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

14 Q. The question to Brian is, do you remember 

15 Inspector Donahue and Schaefer at the hanger that day 

16 doing an investigation? 

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A. No, I don't. 

MR. VINES: I would object, Judge. 

This witness has been asked this question and has 

answered. He said he didn't recall. 

THE COURT: Your objection is noted and 

respectfully overruled. I'll allow the witness 

to answer. 

THE WITNESS: I really don't recall. 

This is a long time ago. 

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1 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

2 Q. Did Inspector Schaefer ask you to write a 

3 statement or a letter to you? 

4 

5 

6 

7 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Inspector Schaefer? 

Yes. 

No. 

So it is your testimony that Inspector Schaefer 

8 didn't discuss the GPU receptacle with you or ask you 

9 to write a letter or statement or anything? 

10 

11 

12 

13 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

No. 

An Inspector Donahue? 

No. 

Only Inspector Kahler was the one that asked you 

14 to write a letter? 

15 

16 

A. 

Q. 

Correct. 

Okay. Would you have any thought as to why --

17 what's your opinion you believe -- do you have opinion 

18 why Inspector Kahler asked you to write a letter, 

19 directed you to change the letter, and then directed 

20 you to send the letter to Inspector Schaefer? 

21 

22 

23 

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25 

MR. VINES: I'd object to that, Judge. 

I don't think the witness is in any position to 

speculate as to the thought processes of any of 

the inspectors, specifically Inspector Schaefer. 

THE COURT: Objection sustained. 

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2 

3 

You may reform the question to ask 

about what this witness knows or observed. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Right. 

4 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

5 Q. You made a statement that it was odd that Paul 

6 Kahler asked you to write a letter to Schaefer, could 

7 you expand on that? 

8 A. Well, he was the primary operations guy. I 

9 didn't understand why the primary maintenance guy 

10 wasn't involved if it was a maintenance issue and why 

11 he wanted to, you know, why he wanted me to write this 

12 letter, and why did he so bad want me to put in that 

13 there was something wrong with the aircraft. 

14 It was almost like they were setting us up for 

15 something. It actually seemed like that to me at the 

16 time, but, you know, like I said, "I was kind of new 

17 dealing with the FAA and stuff." He told me that I'll 

18 just get a letter for two years in my file and if I 

19 didn't get in trouble, it would just go away. 

20 I just said that was the easy answer, just do 

21 that and get it over with, and here we're five years 

22 later and this thing is still haunting me. 

23 Q. So again, it is your testimony that when you 

24 inspected the aircraft on May 7th or thereabout, did 

25 you find damage to the aircraft? 

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No. 

MR. VINES: Objection, Judge. Again, 

the question has been asked and answered. 

THE COURT: Your objection is noted and 

respectfully overruled. I'll allow it. 

Could you finish your answer, sir? 

THE WITNESS: Sure. 

No, when I went to the aircraft, it was 

fine. I plugged in the ground-power unit because 

that's what they said the issue was. I plugged 

it in, turned the aircraft on, turned the 

ground-power unit on, checked everything. The 

voltage was good. 

The ground-power unit was working. The 

aircraft was getting voltage at 28 volts. 

Everything seemed completely normal to me. 

Pulled the power, pulled the plug, shut it all 

down, told them we're good. Nothing is wrong. 

We're okay. Nothing was wrong. Everything was 

normal and then shortly after all of this starts. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I have no more. I 

reserve the right to call him back, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Do you have any brief redirect? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

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THE COURT: I have one question to ask 

you, sir. You indicated that there needed to be 

a letter from Mr. Kahler's conversation with you, 

what was the alternative if you didn't give him 

what he requested? 

THE WITNESS: That there would be a big 

drawn-out investigation is exactly what he told 

me. So I just figured this was a simple way out. 

Let's just give him (inaudible) for not even 

doing anything wrong because I hadn't done 

anything, but it just seemed like the simple 

answer. 

THE COURT: Why was a big investigation 

a problem if you hadn't done anything wrong? 

THE WITNESS: Because I never dealt 

with the FAA before, and when you are licensed to 

do something, they can make your life miserable 

or, you know, it just seemed like an easy way 

out. 

THE COURT: Thank you. Based on the 

Court's inquiry, Mr. Vines, do you have any final 

redirect? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, based on the 

Court's inquiry, do you have any final re-cross? 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: No, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Fanning, 

very much for your testimony. If you could 

remain available for the Respondent's responsive 

cases needed, but you are hereby excused at this 

time. 

THE WITNESS: Thank you. What about 

these documents? 

THE COURT: You can just leave them 

there. Thank you. 

Mr. Vines who would you like to call 

next? 

MR. VINES: The Administrator would 

call Mr. Brandon Plas. 

THE COURT: While Mr. Plas is coming 

into the courtroom, Mr. Vines, starting with you, 

when would you like to take a short morning 

recess, or how long do you think Mr. Plas' 

testimony will last? 

MR. VINES: Probably about the same 

length as the previous, Judge. 

THE COURT: So we'll take a short 

recess after the direct is done. 

MR. VINES: Yes. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, would that 

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be okay with you? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes. 

THE COURT: Before you take a seat, 

please raise your right hand. 

Do you swear to tell the truth and 

nothing but the truth in this proceeding? 

THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am. 

BRANDON PLAS, after having been duly 

sworn, was examined and testified as follows: 

THE COURT: Please take a seat. 

THE WITNESS: Thank you. 

THE COURT: When you are comfortable, 

please state your name and spell your last name 

for the record. 

THE WITNESS: My name is Brandon Plas, 

P-L-A-S. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Counsel, you may inquire. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

DIRECT EXAMINATION 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Q. Mr. Plas, where are you currently employed? 

A. For a company called Premier Aviation LLC. 

Q. What is Premier Aviation LLC? 

A. It is a Corporate Flight Department. 

Q. And as a Corporate Flight Department, what 

7 of activities does your employer engage in? 

A. Aircraft charger. 

type 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

Q. 

A. 

Okay. And what do you do for Premier Aviation? 

I'm a pilot. 

Q. Do you hold any FAA Certificates? 

A. Yes. 

Q. What certificates do you hold? 

A. ATP, Commercial-Flight Instructor, and 

15 Instrument-Ground Instructor. 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

And how long have you been with Premier Aviation? 

Two years, a little over. 

Do you serve as a captain or first officer? 

Captain. 

And when did you obtain your FAA issued 

21 certificates? 

22 A. I got my certificate in the summer of about 2008, 

23 I believe. My CFI, my instructor's certificates in 

24 2005, 2004, 2005. 

25 Q. Okay. And that's the same for your 

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1 instrument-ground instructor? 

2 

3 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, same time. 

And it is my understanding that prior to 

4 before getting an ATP, you hold I would say a Junior 

5 Level Pilot Certificate; is that correct? 

6 

7 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, Commercial Certificate. 

When did you obtain your Commercial Certificate 

8 and by commercial, I'll refer to your Commercial-Pilot 

9 certificate? 

10 

11 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. Shoot, probably 2002, 2003. 

And before you held Commercial-Pilot Certificate, 

12 did you hold a Private-Pilot Certificate? 

13 

14 

15 

16 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

And when did you obtain that? 

2002, commercial was probably about 2003. 

Prior to working for Premier Aviation, where were 

17 you employed? 

18 

19 

A. 

Q. 

JET I.C.U. 

Is JET I.C.U. otherwise known as Worldwide 

20 Aircraft Services? 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, sir. 

How long were you employed with JET I.C.U.? 

Approximately five years. 

And were you employed in 2009 with JET I.C.U.? 

Yes. 

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2 

3 

4 

Q. 

A. 

What did you do for JET I.C.U.? 

I was a pilot. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

5 BY MR. VINES: 

6 Q. I'm going to show you what's been marked as 

7 Exhibit C-8A and C-88. Do you recognize those 

8 documents? 

9 

10 

11 

12 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir. 

How do you recognize those documents? 

I wrote these documents. 

Is that your signature at the bottom of these 

13 documents? 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. Yes, sir. 

MR. VINES: At this time, I move to 

enter Exhibit C-8A and C-88 into evidence, Judge. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection. 

THE COURT: Exhibit C-8A and C-88 is 

hereby admitted. 

(Whereupon, the documents were marked as C-8A 

and C-88 for identification and admitted into 

evidence.) 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

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1 THE COURT: You may. 

2 BY MR. VINES: 

3 Q. Mr. P1as, I will show you what's been marked as 

4 Exhibit C-4A, C-4B and C. Take a minute to look at 

5 those documents, please. Do you recognize those 

6 documents? 

7 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes. 

How do you recognize those documents? 

These are the flight logs used by Worldwide 

10 Aircraft Services. 

11 

12 

13 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

And did you -- did you fill out those documents? 

Yes. 

And is that your signature at the bottom of each 

14 of those documents? 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. Yes. 

MR. VINES: At this time, the 

Administrator moves to admit C-4A, B, and C into 

evidence. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection, your 

Honor. 

THE COURT: C-4A, B, and C are hereby 

admitted without objection. 

(Whereupon, the documents C-4A, B, and C were 

marked for identification and admitted into 

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evidence.) 

BY MR. VINES: 

Q. Mr. Plas, did you have an occasion to operate 

5 N90LJ for your employer, JET I.C.U., on May 3, 2009? 

6 

7 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Did I have what? 

An occasion to operate. 

An occasion? 

I'll rephrase. Did you operate N90LJ as a 

10 captain, as a pilot, on May 3, 2009? 

11 

12 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

And did you operate that aircraft on a leg from, 

13 referencing Government Exhibit C-4A, at the top of 

14 that exhibit where it says Leg 3 from TDP to MYAM? 

15 

16 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

And upon landing in the city or the airport with 

17 the Airport Code MYAM, did you become aware of a 

18 discrepancy with the GPU receptacle on that aircraft? 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I object, your Honor, 

to that question. 

THE COURT: On what? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Legal conclusion. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the ground that it leads to a conclusion, and 

it is essentially leading. 

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Do you have a response? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

THE COURT: Objection is noted and 

respectfully sustained. The question is leading. 

5 Do you have another question for this 

6 witness? 

7 BY MR. VINES: 

8 Q. Did you have an occasion to inspect the GPU 

9 receptacle on N90LJ in MYAM? 

10 A. I don't know what you mean by this occasion. 

11 sorry, your verbiage. 

12 Q. All right. Fair question. When you landed in 

13 Airport Code MYAM, did you inspect, see, or observe 

14 the GPU receptacle on May 3, 2009? 

I'm 

15 A. Most of these questions -- I mean, I'm going to 

16 have to look at my statement just because of the time 

17 on C-A and C-B, C-BA and B, according to my statement 

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19 

20 

21 

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THE COURT: Well I'm going to stop you 

before you look at your statement, Mr. Plas. 

your testimony essentially that you don't 

remember and you need to refresh your 

recollection? 

THE WITNESS: Correct. 

Is 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, do you have 

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any objection to this witness reviewing the 

statement that was previously admitted so that he 

can refresh his recollection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection. 

THE COURT: There being no objection, 

you are welcome, sir, to review your statement to 

assist your testimony. 

THE WITNESS: Okay. Thank you. 

9 Can you ask the question one more time, 

10 please? 

11 BY MR. VINES: 

12 

13 

14 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

I'll be happy to. 

Thank you. 

When you landed in MYAM, did you inspect, see, or 

15 observe the GPU receptacle on N90LJ? 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

According to my statement yes. 

And what did you find or what did you observe 

18 when you looked at the GPU receptacle? 

19 

20 

A. 

Q. 

That the plug -- the GPU plug was not plugged in. 

And did you -- after determining that the cord 

21 was unable to be plugged in, did you attempt to 

22 ascertain the reason why you could not plug in the GPU 

23 cord? 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

I don't remember. 

Okay. I'm going to direct your attention to page 

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1 two of your statement. 

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3 

4 

THE COURT: Could you identify that by 

an exhibit, Mr. Vines? 

MR. VINES: Yes, C-BB as in boy. 

5 BY MR. VINES: 

6 

7 

Q. The second full paragraph on that second page, 

take a minute and look through that, please. Does 

8 that refresh your recollection? 

9 A. It doesn't refresh my recollection. I can only 

10 go by what it says. 

11 

12 

Q. 

A. 

Okay. And what does it say? 

The PIC tried and failed to plug in his GPU and 

13 noticed the pins were bent and that that was not 

14 allowing the GPU plug into the aircraft. 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

And the PIC, this is your statement, correct? 

Correct. 

And your reference to the PIC, who is that? 

That is me. 

And what does PIC stand for? 

Pilot in Command. 

Okay. And this statement was made or given to 

22 Inspector Donahue on June 8, 2009; is that correct? 

23 A. I don't remember. 

24 Q. Or let me rephrase, you prepared this statement 

25 on June 8, 2009? 

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A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

And this was approximately one month after the 

3 flight that occurred on May 3, 209; is that correct? 

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5 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

Okay. And is it fair to say that your 

6 recollection of the event on May 3, 2009 was more 

7 fresh in your mind on June 8, 2009 than it is today? 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

Do you recall after inspecting the GPU, whether 

10 you called back to your employer to discuss the issue 

11 that you observed? 

12 

13 

A. 

Q. 

I don't remember. 

If I can direct your attention to C-8B as in boy, 

14 the fourth paragraph. Take a minute to review that, 

15 please. Have you had an occasion to read that 

16 paragraph? 

17 

18 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

Are you able to recall whether you contacted the 

19 D.O. and discussed the issue with the D.O.? 

20 

21 

A. 

Q. 

I don't remember the phone call. 

And I'll pose the same question to you that I 

22 asked earlier with regard to whether you contacted 

23 the -- well first let me ask you, what does D.O. refer 

24 to? 

25 A. Director of Operations. 

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1 Q. And do you recall who the Director of Operations 

2 was at that time? 

3 

4 

A. 

Q. 

Michael Honeycutt. 

And it is your testimony today that you don't 

5 recall specifically what the conversation was about? 

6 

7 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

Again, I'll ask you the same question that I 

8 asked you earlier, this statement that you wrote is 

9 dated June 8, 2009; is that correct? 

10 

11 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

And would your memory of the event that took 

12 place on May 3, 2009 be more fresh in your mind than 

13 it is today? 

14 A. Yes. 

15 Q. And do you have any reason to believe that your 

16 statement here in Exhibit C-BB is incorrect? 

17 

18 

A. 

Q. 

No. 

Do you recall what happened after you spoke with 

19 the D.O. on May 3, 2009? 

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21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Do I remember what happened? 

Uh-huh. 

No. 

Did you stay in MYAM that day? 

Not according to the flight log, no. 

What did you do; did you operate the aircraft? 

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A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

Where did you take the aircraft to? 

CYYZ is the airport I went to. 

Do you recall whether on May 3, 2009 after 

5 observing the issue with the GPU receptacle, most 

6 importantly the bent prongs and the (inaudible) 

7 receptacle, did you contact the Director of 

8 Maintenance for JET I.C.U.? 

9 

10 

A. 

Q. 

Again, I don't recall. 

Were you familiar with the -- when you started 

11 work at JET I.C.U. -- when did you start at JET 

12 I.C.U.; do you recall? 

13 

14 

A. 

Q. 

Early 2007. 

Did you receive any training on JET I.C.U. 's 

15 policies or operations procedures? 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

Are you familiar with what is called the General 

18 Operations Manual? 

19 

20 

21 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes. 

What is a General Operations Manual? 

It is essentially the definition of permissions 

22 granted by the FAA for a particular operator. 

23 Q. Were you ever instructed by JET I.C.U. that it 

24 was your duty to follow the GOM? 

25 A. Yes. 

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1 Q. Okay. When you were employed with JET I.C.U., 

2 did you have occasion to read the General Operations 

3 Manual? 

4 

5 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

If you saw a copy of it, do you think you would 

6 be able to recognize it? 

7 

8 

9 

10 

A. 

Q. 

I guess. 

Okay. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

11 BY MR. VINES: 

12 

13 

Q. I want to show you what's been marked G-13A 

through G-130. If you can take a look at those pages 

14 for a moment, please. 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

THE COURT: Counsel, I don't believe I 

have any of the G Exhibits or it is C, are you 

referring to C as in cat as opposed to G as in 

George? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. I'll rephrase. 

I've shown the witness what has been 

marked as Exhibit C-13A through 0. Thank you for 

that correction, Judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Mr. Plas, do you need more time? 

THE WITNESS: No, your Honor. 

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THE COURT: Mr. Vines, if you could 

continue, please. 

MR. VINES: Yes, your Honor. 

4 BY MR. VINES: 

5 Q. I want to direct -- you've had occasion to look 

6 at the document, correct? 

7 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

E-3. 

Yes. 

I want to direction your attention to paragraph 

If you'll go to Exhibit C-13M as in man. I want 

10 to direct your attention to paragraph E-3. Are you 

11 familiar with the GOM's policy that any discrepancy 

12 has to be documented in the aircraft's maintenance 

13 log? 

14 

15 

A. 

Q. 

16 2009? 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Yes. 

And you were familiar with that policy on May 3, 

Yes. 

MR. VINES: If I could have the Court's 

indulgence, please. I may be done with this 

witness. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, this may be a 

good time for us to take a five-minute recess in 

the morning and you can result with Ms. Farmer 

and this witness can take a brief break. 

Mr. Vines, would five minutes be 

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sufficient? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, five 

minutes? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: We'll take our five-minute 

morning recess. 

Sir, you are still under oath. Will 

you please be available to go back in the chair 

in five minutes. 

THE WITNESS: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: We can go off the record at 

this time. 

(Whereupon, there was a recess taken.) 

THE COURT: We're back on the record in 

the matter of Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. 

This is Docket No. FAA-2013-0045. 

We've had approximately a 10-second 

recess. We're back on the record. All parties 

previously identified are still in the courtroom. 

There has been a motion in limine by Mr. 

Honeycutt off the record. 

Mr. Honeycutt, could you repeat that 

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now while we're on the record? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. I would 

like you to direct the witnesses not to discuss 

any testimony or any part of the case amongst the 

witnesses. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, any objection? 

MR. VINES: Agreed, Judge. 

THE COURT: That motion in limine is 

respectfully granted. 

Mr. Vines, I'll ask you to provide that 

information to Mr. Fanning since he has already 

left the courtroom and is still a witness in the 

case in chief of the Respondent. 

Mr. Plas, please do not discuss your 

testimony with anyone else. You're welcome to 

talk about the weather, any sport teams you want 

to talk about and so forth but not the testimony. 

THE WITNESS: Okay. 

THE COURT: With that, anything else we 

need to address before we go off the record? 

We'll have a five-minute recess. 

(Whereupon, a brief recess was taken.) 

THE COURT: We're back on the record in 

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the matter of Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. 

This is Docket No. FAA-2013-0045. 

We've reconvened after a five-minute 

morning recess. All parties previously 

identified have returned to the courtroom. Mr. 

Plas has reseated himself in the witness chair. 

Sir, you are still under oath. 

Mr. Vines. 

MR. VINES: I have nothing further for 

this witness, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Before I turn to Mr. 

Honeycutt, I do just have a few matters to 

address with Mr. Plas. 

Mr. Plas, can you identify the cities, 

the initials that you previously testified stand 

for, for example, what does TDPD stand for; do 

you recall? 

THE WITNESS: I do not, Judge. 

THE COURT: Do you recall what any of 

these abbreviations stand for? These are 

contained in your statement that has been marked 

and admitted as Exhibit C-8. 

for? 

THE WITNESS: I recognize BKV and CYYZ. 

THE COURT: And what do those stand 

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THE WITNESS: BKV is Brooksville, 

Florida and CYYZ is Toronto, Canada. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, do you have 

any cross-examination of this witness? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor. 

If it please the Court, I can identify 

the identifiers. 

THE COURT: Well, you are not on the 

witness stand right now. We'll wait until you 

testify if no one else before you can say it. 

Do you have questions to ask this 

witness? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

16 - - - - -

17 CROSS-EXAMINATION 

18 - - - - -

19 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

20 Q. Brandon, in your written statement, which is the 

21 Government Exhibit C-8A and B, during your flight, 

22 referenced again on C-4A, you used the GPU in 

23 Brooksville? 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

I don't remember. 

You don't remember. Would you remember if you 

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1 used it in the TJSJ? 

2 

3 

A. 

Q. 

No. 

You don't remember, but in your statement at the 

4 end of your statement, the very last paragraph, after 

5 the passengers disembarked and plugged the GPU unit 

6 and it worked correctly? 

7 

8 

9 

10 

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14 

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16 

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22 

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A. According to my statement yes. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: That's all I have for 

him, your Honor. 

THE COURT: I just need to make sure 

that the record is clear. When you are 

referring, Mr. Honeycutt, to this witness' 

statement, are you referring to Exhibit C-8? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: C-8B, in particular the 

last paragraph. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Mr. Vines, do you have any 

cross-examination? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Mr. Plas, thank you very 

much for your testimony. It appears you are also 

listed as a Respondent's witness, so you need to 

remain available for further testimony once the 

Respondent starts their case in chief. 

THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am. 

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THE COURT: You're excused. Thank you. 

MR. VINES: Judge, if I may as to --

THE COURT: Yes. 

MR. VINES: --Mr. Plas' requirement to 

stay, I did notify Mr. Plas that I did subpoena 

him and that I would use him for the Agency's 

case in chief and told him at the completion of 

that testimony, I would release him. 

I don't know if that has any outcome or 

any indication or result on your decision, Judge, 

to make him stay through the rest of the hearing. 

THE COURT: It is my understanding that 

Mr. Honeycutt has also listed Mr. Plas as a 

witness. 

Mr. Honeycutt, did you make private 

arrangements with Mr. Plas to be available to 

you, did you subpoena him, how did you obtain his 

testimony or his presence? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I did not subpoena Mr. 

Plas. 

As I admitted in our pre-conference 

trial, I accept his statements, and I don't 

believe I will need Mr. Plas, but I reserve the 

right to call him back. 

THE COURT: Did you make arrangements, 

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did you talk to Mr. Plas about him serving as a 

witness in your case in chief? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Okay. What I will do is I 

will give you five minutes to talk privately with 

Mr. Plas about whether or not he is going to come 

back at your request. That certainly is your 

right to ask him. If you haven't served him with 

a subpoena, then you cannot compel him to come 

back. So if you want to take a minute or two to 

talk privately with him out in the hallway. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: If you don't mind. 

THE COURT: Mr. Plas, you are excused. 

THE WITNESS: Thank you. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt has returned. 

Mr. Plas, you've been excused so you 

are welcome to go unless Mr. Honeycutt has made 

arrangements for you to return. 

What is the status of that? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: We asked Brandon to 

remain around until -- I don't think we will need 

him, but I will know by lunch. So we just asked 

him to remain 'til then. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

THE WITNESS: Thank you. 

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THE COURT: Before we call our next 

witness, Mr. Vines, I still need you to provide 

to me and to Mr. Honeycutt, a copy of the FAA 

case that you referenced in your opening. Could 

you do that now until we move on to another 

matter? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, who did you want 

to call next? 

MR. VINES: The FAA Administrator will 

call Paul Kahler, Judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

I'll note that Mr. Vines has handed me 

a copy of the decision FAA versus Sundance Air, 

Inc. both to Mr. Honeycutt and to this court. 

Thank you very much. 

Gentlemen, while we're waiting for Mr. 

Kahler to enter, I want you to be sure about the 

one-hour period of time for Mr. Honeycutt to 

interview Ms. Farmer off the record. We can talk 

about that before we recess for lunch. 

Mr. Kahler. 

THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: If you could please 

approach the witness stand. While you are 

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standing, I'll ask you to raise your right hand. 

Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but 

the truth in this proceeding? 

THE WITNESS: I do. 

PAUL KAHLER, after having been duly 

sworn, was examined and testified as follows: 

THE COURT: Please take a seat. When 

you are comfortable, please state your name and 

spell your last name for the record. 

THE WITNESS: My name is Paul Kahler, 

K-A-H-L-E-R. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, you may inquire. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

16 - - -

17 DIRECT EXAMINATION 

18 - - - - -

19 BY MR. VINES: 

20 

21 

Q. 

A. 

Inspector Kahler, where are you employed? 

At the Tampa Flight Standard District Office in 

22 Tampa, Florida. 

23 

24 

25 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

And that's part of the FAA? 

Yes, sir. 

And what's your title? 

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1 A. I'm an Aviation Safety Inspector on the 

2 operations side. 

3 Q. As an Aviation Inspector of Operations, what type 

4 of duties do you perform for the Agency? 

5 A. It is divided into different categories, but 

6 basically, general aviation for small carrier 

7 operations is what I oversee with the primary emphasis 

8 on compliance with regulations that apply to pilots or 

9 in the air carrier business, the company, where the 

10 pilots are concerned. 

11 Q. Okay. And when you say air carriers, are you 

12 referring to Part 135 Operators? 

13 

14 

15 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, sir. 

What is a Part 135 Operator? 

A Part 135 Operator is an organization that holds 

16 out to the public on demand as opposed to scheduled 

17 and does a case-by-case charge with their customers as 

18 opposed to selling tickets in an airline place, such 

19 as American Air and so on. 

20 Q. So as a fair analogy, it is a taxi service but 

21 using an aircraft versus using a car? 

22 

23 

A. 

Q. 

That's a simplified version, but, yes, sir. 

Do you do any surveillance or do you do any 

24 surveillance of any air agencies or operators? 

25 A. I would say on my side of the FAA's job, that is 

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1 my primary responsibility, to surveillance or 

2 compliance, to make sure people are doing what they 

3 say they'll do in their documents and their manuals. 

4 Q. In addition to oversight of Part 135 Operators, 

5 are there any other specific air operators or agencies 

6 that you survey or review? 

7 A. I've been doing this job for 18 years so the 

8 assignments alter, but I have done people that do 

9 agricultural spring. I've done people that do 

10 helicopter operations. I've done EMS helicopter 

11 operations. I've done general aviation. I've done 

12 air shows, and I've done air carriers both small and 

13 large. My latest one was an air carrier in St. 

14 Petersburg. It had 66 aircrafts and 270 pilots 

15 involved. 

16 Q. Let's talk about manuals, are manuals, generally 

17 speaking, are manuals required of the Part 135 

18 Operator? 

19 A. There is a definite fork in the road where that 

20 is concerned. The regulations speak to the size and 

21 scope of the operator to determine whether the manual 

22 is necessary with that particular operation. 

23 Normally small operations that have one pilot or 

24 one captain only in the operation where it goes as the 

25 operator and the persons running the company is the 

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1 same person, therefore a manual wouldn't necessarily 

2 be necessary to tell him what he's already discovered 

3 on his own. 

4 If there is more than one employee operating for 

5 the air carrier, then you would need a standardized 

6 procedure within the company that is normally 

7 controlled through the process of a manual that is 

8 applied and accepted by the FAA for the operator's 

9 use. 

10 Q. And as an ASI, are you helping these air carriers 

11 or agencies create or do you approve these manuals for 

12 the air agencies or air carriers? 

13 A. My job is specifically to accept those manuals 

14 and request from the operator should they ask for my 

15 opinion or ask for resources to help develop their 

16 programs, I would also provide that. 

17 

18 

19 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

How long have you been with the FAA? 

Since 1998. 

Have you been in this position since you started 

20 with the FAA? 

21 

22 

A. I've always be in this position, but this is my 

second assignment. I was initially assigned in San 

23 Antonio, Texas doing this. 

24 

25 

Q. 

A. 

So same duties, but different location? 

Yes, sir, that's correct. 

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1 Q. Prior to working for the FAA, where were you 

2 employed? 

3 

4 

5 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

United States Army. 

What did you do for the United States Army? 

I was a Flight-Standard's Instructor and a 

6 helicopter pilot and a mission commander during my 20 

7 years for the army. 

8 Q. And what did you do, what was required of you 

9 holding those two positions? 

10 

11 

A. I was a combat flight lead. I had flown missions 

into combat locations in separate countries. I've 

12 also been employed in (inaudible) of the United 

13 States, again doing combat preparation for battalions 

14 that are on a quicker action force for the United 

15 States. 

16 Q. Did you work with the Flight Department for 

17 helicopters? 

18 

19 

A. Yes, the Flight Standard's Department within 

those organizations I've worked with. I would say 

20 easily the last 10 years of my career in the army, I 

21 was always employed with the Flight Standard Divisions 

22 of those units I was assigned in the army. That would 

23 have been my career profession for my rank. 

24 Q. Going back to your position with the FAA, you 

25 discussed that you had assignments to certain air 

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1 carriers or air agencies for oversight, et cetera, is 

2 that my understanding of what you testified to 

3 earlier? 

4 A. Yes, I had been previously -- ever since I've 

5 been working for the FAA, I've been in oversight 

6 positions for air carriers of some size or scope, yes. 

7 Q. And formerly within the FAA within your office, 

8 you are assigned a specific certificate or a specific 

9 air agency to oversee and to survey? 

10 

11 

A. 

Q. 

That's correct. 

And in your capacity as an ASI for the FAA, have 

12 you ever been assigned to the Worldwide Aircraft also 

13 known as JET I.C.U. Certificate? 

14 

15 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir, I have. 

And what type of position -- let me ask you, when 

16 you are assigned to a specific certificate, is there a 

17 specific term or title that you are given? 

18 A. Yes, the term when you are acting as an Aviation 

19 Safety Inspector employed with the oversight of an air 

20 carrier, my title would have been Principle Operations 

21 Inspector because the operations side of that 

22 organization would have been my venue as opposed to a 

23 Principle Maintenance Inspector or a (inaudible) 

24 inspector which would have focused on their specialty. 

25 Q. So at one point you were the Principle Operations 

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1 Inspector for Worldwide Aircraft? 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

A. That's correct. 

MR. VINES: Judge, for going forward, 

I'm going to use Worldwide Aircraft and JET 

I.C.U. interchangeably, if that's not already 

clear on the record. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

8 BY MR. VINES: 

9 Q. Do you recall when you were the Principle 

10 Operations Inspector or known as POI for Worldwide 

11 Aircraft? 

12 A. To the best of my recollection, sir, it was 

13 probably starting in the beginning of 2009 and 

14 extended to some time to 2010. I believe I had 

15 somewhere between 18 to 24 months in that position. 

16 Q. Are you familiar with the Administrator's report 

17 against Worldwide for violations of 135.65C and 

18 135.21A of the Federal Aviation Regulations? 

19 

20 

21 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, sir, I am. 

How did you become involved in this case? 

The EIR in question is the one that I wrote 

22 against the certificate holder back in I believe May 

23 of 2009. There was an incident that occurred at JET 

24 I.C.U. that involved an aircraft and a 

25 ground-power-cart unit used to start the aircraft up. 

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1 The incident was the result of what is called a 

2 hot-line complaint. 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

THE COURT: Sir, I'm going to stop you, 

sir. You are going beyond the question. 

THE WITNESS: Okay. 

THE COURT: Counsel, you are welcomed 

to refer to the Respondent any way you wish, but 

you need to establish in evidence whether or not 

JET I.C.U. is actually an alternate name or why 

it would be applicable in this case. 

MR. VINES: Okay. 

THE COURT: In addition, if the witness 

refers to things by its abbreviations in this 

case, there should be an explanation on the 

record as to what that means. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

THE COURT: You're welcome. 

MR. VINES: I do believe that it was 

established earlier in the testimony by the first 

witness. 

THE COURT: Well, there's nothing that 

says that doesn't necessarily mean that this 

witness would agree. 

MR. VINES: Agreed, Judge. 

THE COURT: So if the witness is using 

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1 

2 

3 

an abbreviation, he should explain what he means 

by it if you would be so kind. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

4 BY MR. VINES: 

5 Q. Mr. Kahler, in your familiarity with Worldwide 

6 Aircraft, do you know it to also operate under the 

7 business name of JET I.C.U.? 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir, I do. 

And when you refer to the term EIR, what are you 

10 referring to? 

11 A. The exact words is an Enforcement something 

12 system, but that EIR refers to the enforcement action 

13 that air carriers have them placed against them on 

14 occasion by the FAA when they are either in non 

15 compliance with a regulation or a (inaudible). 

16 Q. Do you agree or disagree or do you know whether 

17 EIR stands for Enforcement Investigative Report? 

18 A. That sounds correct. Thank you. That is 

19 correct. 

20 Q. So you testified earlier that there was a 

21 hot-line complaint, and if you will again repeat what 

22 that hot-line complaint was about. 

23 

24 

A. Okay. The short version is there was a hot-line 

complaint filed with Washington, DC. It had to do 

25 with an incident at JET I.C.U. where an aircraft had 

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1 departed allegedly with a power cart still attached to 

2 the aircraft and that this power cart was destroyed in 

3 the process of the aircraft leaving the ramp and 

4 taking off for a flight. 

5 Q. Are you familiar -- have you been around these 

6 power carts that you referred to? 

7 A. I have seen this one in question before as the 

8 Principle Operations Inspector having conducted 

9 previous surveillance, it had been pointed out to me 

10 before that this is the one that they were using. 

11 

12 

Q. 

A. 

What is the purpose of this power cart? 

The jets that JET I.C.U. uses normally do not 

13 have a self sustaining way of starting their aircraft. 

14 Jets that do not have their own starters usually use 

15 an outsource, electrical source, an internal battery 

16 or an airmatic start. 

17 This particular jet, in my recollection, it can 

18 either use a battery internally or it can use an 

19 external cart. Normally the external cart is 

20 preferred because of the amperage draw that is 

21 required to start the engines. It immediately allows 

22 the aircraft to depart without having to recharge 

23 their batteries from start if they had used their 

24 internal battery. 

25 Q. You testified earlier that you had observed one 

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1 of the power carts; is that correct? 

2 A. I am familiar with the power cart concept, and I 

3 believe I recollect seeing a power cart similar to 

4 this one, if it is not the power cart before. Because 

5 they have used this with, I believe more than one 

6 aircraft, it was synonymous with their whole fleet. 

7 They could have used this source of external power for 

8 aircraft starts. 

9 Q. And by they, you are referring to Worldwide 

10 Aircraft? 

11 

12 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, I am. 

Are you able to describe this power cart, what it 

13 looks like? 

14 A. It is a small-wield cart. It has what looks like 

15 a box on it that I would assume is an inverter of some 

16 sorts. I believe there is an external source where 

17 you probably go into the hanger's power. This then, 

18 through the inverter, changes it to the correct 

19 amperage and voltage necessary for the aircraft and an 

20 out cord would depart the cart going through the 

21 aircraft to provide a source and the amperage 

22 necessary for the safe start. 

23 Q. Physically are you able to describe to the judge 

24 the measurements, the approximate size of this cart or 

25 compare it to something perhaps in this courtroom? 

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1 A. Your Honor, about the size of that podium, if you 

2 cut it in half with a girth and height, it would be 

3 similar to that size, your Honor. 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

THE COURT: Counsel, since this is a 

written record, only we have visuals, you will 

need to have some dimensions added to this 

witness' testimony. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

9 BY MR. VINES: 

10 Q. Inspector Kahler, are you able to provide a 

11 height, width, and depth measurement to this cart or 

12 this power-unit cart that you've referred to? 

13 A. My estimate would be something about two-feet in 

14 height, by two-feet in width, by three-feet in length. 

15 Q. Thank you. And you testified earlier that this 

16 unit has a plug, this power unit has a plug that plugs 

17 into the aircraft? 

18 A. Yes. The way that the power generated by the 

19 cart is transferred to the aircraft is through the 

20 extension, like an extension cord wire to carry the 

21 amperage to the aircraft for the start. 

22 Q. Thank you. Do you know if Worldwide Aircraft 

23 holds an Air Carrier Certificate? 

24 A. I know they do as being their previous principle, 

25 but I don't think I can quote it by memory what its 

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1 code is, but yes, they were a Certificated Part 135 

2 Operator when I was their Principle Operating 

3 Inspector. 

4 Q. If I showed you a copy of the Company's Operation 

5 Specifications, do you know if you would be able to 

6 identify those Operation Specifications? 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. I believe I could. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

MR. VINES: Can I clear some of the 

exhibits? 

THE COURT: Why don't you hand them up 

to me, and I can take them. 

MR. VINES: Would you like me to put 

these in order? 

THE COURT: No, I can just put them up 

here as you see fit. 

MR. VINES: Thank you. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

I'll note that the witness area has 

been cleared of other exhibits. 

Counsel, you are free to proceed. 

MR. VINES: Judge, I'm going to hold 

onto this exhibit. It has not been admitted. 

THE COURT: If it has not been 

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2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

admitted, then I do not need to see it. 

I'll note that Mr. Vines is returning 

to counsel table with Exhibits C-13A through 0, 

which was not moved for admission. 

MR. BOWEN: Judge, through what, your 

Honor? 

THE COURT: I'm sorry, there has been a 

question by Mr. Bowen who is not the 

representative for this --

MR. BOWEN: I'm sorry. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, do you have 

a question? 

familiar. 

approach. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am, we're 

THE COURT: Okay. 

MR. VINES: May I approach, Judge? 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, you may 

MR. VINES: The Administrator is going 

20 to mark Exhibit C-2. 

21 BY MR. VINES: 

22 

23 

24 

25 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Do you recognize this document? 

I do recognize this document. 

How do you recognize this document? 

It is the Air Carrier Certificate issued to 

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1 Worldwide Aircraft by the FAA identifying them as an 

2 air carrier. 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

MR. VINES: At this time, the 

Administrator would move to admit Exhibit C-2 

into evidence, Judge. 

THE COURT: Any objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Exhibit C-2 is hereby 

9 admitted. 

10 - - - - -

11 (Whereupon, the document was marked as C-2 for 

12 identification and admitted into evidence.) 

13 - - - - -

14 BY MR. VINES: 

15 

16 

Q. At this time, I want to show you Exhibit C-3A 

through C-3J. If you could take a look at those 

17 documents, please. Have you had the occasion to look 

18 through the documents? 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, I 

Do you 

Yes, I 

How do 

It is 

have. 

recognize these documents? 

do. 

you recognize these documents? 

the first part of the Operation 

24 Specifications, a few extracts, but specifically I 

25 recognize my signature on one of the pages. 

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1 

2 

3 

Q. Okay. And which page is that? 

A. That page, sir, I believe is A006-l, the 

management personnel of Worldwide Aircraft. It has my 

4 signature and Mr. Honeycutt's signature on it, which 

5 is what put it into effect. 

6 Q. And is that what references Administrator's 

7 Exhibit C-3E as in echo? 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

A. Yes, sir, it does. 

MR. VINES: At this time, the 

Administrator would like to admit C-3A through 

C-3J into evidence. 

THE COURT: I'm going to reserve the 

ruling on that. This document has not been 

adequately identified. I've been given 

information that's the first part of the 

Operation Specification, but I don't know for 

whom. 

MR. VINES: Okay. 

19 BY MR. VINES: 

20 Q. Inspector Kahler, you said earlier that you 

21 recognized these documents and you identified them 

22 from excerpts from Operation Specification, you did 

23 not name or reference the air carrier or certificate 

24 holder for which these Operation Specifications are 

25 issued to, do you know who these Operation 

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1 Specifications are issued to? 

2 A. Based on these exhibits placed before me, I can 

3 see that these are to Worldwide Aircraft Services. 

4 They were in the 2009 time frame, and these appear to 

5 be copies of the correct op specs that would have been 

6 issued at that time to JET I.C.U. These are their op 

7 specs to the best of my recollection of the documents 

8 that are before me. 

9 I see their identification, and at this point, 

10 Whiskey 50 Alpha, I was unclear as to whether it was 

11 Whiskey 50 Lena or Alpha because there was a similar 

12 operator with a similar code. Now that I see it, it 

13 is my recollection that this is, in fact, theirs as 

14 well as Whiskey 50 Alpha. 

15 Q. All right. So let's clarify that, when you were 

16 referring what to Whiskey 50 Alpha, what are you 

17 referring to? 

18 A. It is the certificate number. Some organizations 

19 can have names that sound similar or use the same 

20 words in different sequences. In order to ensure the 

21 FAA's data, we have specifically all operators 

22 identifying separately. We give them these seven 

23 digit, eight-digit identifies, and this one, to the 

24 best of my recollection is, in fact, the one issued to 

25 Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. 

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1 Q. Is there a particular exhibit that you can 

2 reference to inform the judge, if you can look at the 

3 bottom of the page I'm referencing to, there should be 

4 a Government Exhibit sticker on the bottom right-hand 

5 corner, is there a specific sticker on the page that 

6 you are referring to for the judge's clarification? 

7 A. This appears to be Government's Exhibit C-3A 

8 through J. As I look through each of them, I find the 

9 same identifying markings on the bottom of each page 

10 identifying them as Operation Specifications issued to 

11 Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc., Certificate No. 

12 W50A8808, and they are consistent. 

13 Q. Okay. Now you referenced earlier, I think you 

14 said you spoke, you misspoke earlier about a 

15 certificate number, did I understand your testimony 

16 correctly? 

17 A. My recollection of the Whiskey 50 Alpha on the 

18 bottom right-hand corner of the Operation 

19 Specifications, I have had another operator with a 

20 Wisky 50 and it had a different fourth character 

21 

22 

Q. 

A. 

Okay. 

-- and because I was not certain if I was going 

23 to see an L or an A, I wanted to make sure I looked at 

24 the document and said, "Yes, I know for sure that that 

25 is their correct identifier.'' 

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1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

Q. 

A. 

Okay. 

I was just being conservative. 

MR. VINES: So at this time, Judge, the 

Administrator again would move to admit Exhibit 

C-3A through C-3J. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, any 

objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I have no objection, 

your Honor. 

THE COURT: Exhibit C-3A through J is 

hereby admitted. 

(Whereupon, the documents were marked as C-3A 

through C-3J for identification and admitted 

into evidence.) 

BY MR. VINES: 

Q. We got sidetracked here, but I wanted to ask you, 

19 these Operation Specifications authorized Worldwide 

20 Aircraft to do what? 

21 A. Realizing this is not the complete set of 

22 Operation Specifications, I'll take your question on 

23 face value, these Operation Specifications start out 

24 with identifying that possible authorizations that 

25 might be available to this operator referred to as the 

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1 Table of Contents. 

2 

3 

Q. 

A. 

And if you'll reference please --

C-3A and B, your Honor, are the indexes of 

4 possible approvals that could have been issued. C-3C 

5 is the vigilance of applicability identifying 

6 Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc's primary business 

7 address, as well as the kind of operations that the 

8 last portion of Alpha, A, what they are approved to 

9 do. 

10 It goes down and tells us B, that these are their 

11 effective dates. C is where we come to the word JET 

12 I.C.U. Many times operators are given DBA's, Doing 

13 Business As, and this company chose to have such a 

14 DBA, and it is stated here and approved in the op 

15 specs. 

16 Then the last one tells us that they are 

17 authorized to conduct flights under Part 91 for 

18 crew-member training which is not unusual. Any time 

19 they would not be operating for hire, but doing 

20 internal training or internal repositioning, that 

21 would be under Part 91, and we recognize it as such. 

22 That is C-3C. 

23 Q. Let me stop you right there, under paragraph A in 

24 Exhibit C-3C, what does that paragraph authorize 

25 Worldwide to do? 

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1 A. In A that authorized them to conduct operations 

2 in common carriage with 119 personnel as approved by 

3 the FAR's under 11921A5, which gives them the approval 

4 to do it on demand, and the last portion of there 

5 tells them that they must, at all times, provide this 

6 (inaudible) appropriate for Economic Authority to the 

7 Department of Transportation. 

8 

9 

Q. Thank you. I want to take you back to your 

investigation of this case. Did you have an occasion 

10 to obtain any statements from any of your colleagues, 

11 any of the inspectors that work in your office, any of 

12 the ASis that work in your office? 

13 A. Yes, sir, I was. In my case, we were drawn from 

14 investigation from Mr. Donahue and Mr. Schaefer. They 

15 walked me through the hot-line investigation. 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. VINES: Judge, may I approach the 

bench? 

THE COURT: You may. 

MR. VINES: Can I have the exhibits? 

THE COURT: I'll hand the exhibits that 

were previously taken away from the witness to 

Mr. Vines. 

MR. VINES: May I approach the witness, 

Judge? 

THE COURT: You may. 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

2 Q. I want to show you what's been admitted as 

3 Exhibit C-6A and C-68. Do you recognize this 

4 statement? 

5 

6 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir, I do. 

All right. And how do you recognize this 

7 statement? 

8 A. This is the statement during the hot-line 

9 investigation on the incident in question that was 

10 made by the Principle Maintenance Inspector with 

11 regards to the facts of the case. 

12 Q. And the Principle Maintenance Inspector that you 

13 are referring to is Mr. Frank Schaefer? 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. Yes. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I object. I haven't 

agreed to the admittance of this statement. 

THE COURT: You already have, sir. It 

was earlier admitted during the testimony of -- I 

can tell you exactly who 

MR. VINES: It was Mr. Fanning. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, you actually 

moved for its admission during your own cross. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I did, your Honor. I 

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1 

2 

3 

No problem. 

6 Let me show you what's been 

7 marked as Exhibit C-7A, C-7B, and C-9. 

8 BY MR. VINES: 

9 Q. So take a look at C-7A, C-7B and tell me if you 

10 recognize these documents. 

11 

12 

13 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, sir, I do. 

How do you recognize these documents? 

This document is a statement by Inspector Donahue 

14 in reference to his hot-line complaint. It was based 

15 on the interview he had with pilots of the aircraft 

16 and Mr. Honeycutt it appears. 

17 Q. And you reviewed that statement -- you not only 

18 reviewed it, but you included in your EIR; is that 

19 correct? 

20 

21 

A. 

Q. 

22 C-9. 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, that's correct. 

Let me show you what's been marked as Exhibit 

I recognize this one as well. 

How do you recognize that document? 

This is a written response from a request from 

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1 Mr. Donahue during the hot-line complaint from the 

2 captain of the aircraft, Eric Price, to give his 

3 account of that day's flight. I used this in my EIR 

4 also. 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. VINES: At this time, Judge, the 

Administrator would move to admit Exhibit C-7A, 

C-7B, and C-9 into evidence. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Could I have a moment, 

your Honor? 

THE COURT: Sure. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I have no 

objection to C-9, Eric Price's statement, but I 

object to C-7A and C-7B as the fact that 

Mr. Donahue will testify to his own written 

account. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, any response to 

the objection of the motion to admit Exhibit C-7? 

MR. VINES: I would argue, Judge, that 

Mr. Honeycutt has not shown why this particular 

exhibit should be excluded as admitted through 

this witness. 

THE COURT: Well, I presume that a 

witness who testifies live is better than a 

witness who is not testifying at all. 

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I'll admit Exhibit C-9. I'll reserve 

ruling on Exhibit C-7 pending the testimony of 

Mr. Price. 

Is he planning to be called by the FAA? 

MR. VINES: Excuse me, Judge, the FAA 

is not planning to call Mr. Price. 

THE COURT: Was he listed as a witness? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Honeycutt, let 

me turn back to you, there apparently is not 

going to be any testimony presented live by 

Mr. Donahue, do you have any other objections 

that you would like to admit on the motion to 

admit C-7 other than the fact that his live 

testimony would be preferred? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Mr. Donahue is 

scheduled to testify. Mr. Price 

THE COURT: I'm sorry, I must have 

misstated myself. 

Mr. Vines, has Mr. Donahue been 

subpoenaed or is he being called by the FAA 

during your case in chief? 

MR. VINES: The latter, Judge, he is 

being called. 

THE COURT: Then I will renew your 

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motion once Mr. Donahue is on the stand. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

THE COURT: You're welcome. 

(Whereupon, the document was marked 

as C-9 for identification and admitted into 

evidence.) 

BY MR. VINES: 

Q. Inspector Kahler, you have Exhibit C-13 on the 

11 stand; is that correct? 

12 A. No, sir, I don't seem to have C-13. I have 

13 three, six, seven, and nine. 

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THE COURT: Mr. Vines, you took it back 

to counsel table a little earlier. 

MR. VINES: I apologize. Thank you. 

I found it, Judge. Thank you. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

MR. VINES: May I approach, Judge? 

THE COURT: You may. 

21 BY MR. VINES: 

22 Q. I want to show you what's been marked as Exhibit 

23 C-13A through C-130. Do you recognize this document? 

24 A. Yes, this appears to be an excerpt from the 

25 Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. General Operations 

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1 Manual from 2007-2009 time frame I see based on the 

2 dates on this bottom of the document. 

3 Q. Do those excerpts accurately represent the manual 

4 as they were in effect on or about May 7, 2009? 

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A. To the best of my recollection. 

MR. VINES: At this time, the 

Administrator would move to admit C-13A through 

C-130 into evidence. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection. 

THE COURT: Exhibits C-13A through 0 is 

hereby admitted. 

(Whereupon, the documents were marked as C-13A 

through C-130 for identification and admitted 

into evidence.) 

BY MR. VINES: 

Q. You testified earlier, Inspector, that this is 

20 the General Operations Manager? 

21 

22 

A. 

Q. 

23 this? 

24 A. 

Yes, that's what it says on the front. 

What was the point of Worldwide Aircraft having 

Based on the size and scope of aircraft air 

25 carriers, as I've stated earlier, once you get to a 

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1 certain amount of employees, the General Operations 

2 Manual is necessary to provide standardized 

3 instructions to employees on how to operate under 

4 their Air Carrier Certificate. This appears to be the 

5 manual used at that time for JET I.C.U. 's employees to 

6 operate in accordance with their Operation 

7 Specifications. 

8 Q. Do you know whether this particular manual is 

9 required by the Federal Aviation Regulations? 

10 A. For Mr. Honeycutt's size of organization at the 

11 time, it was required. 

12 Q. I want to direct your attention to paragraph E-3, 

13 which is found in Exhibit C-13M as in Mike. 

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A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

I'm there. 

If you can take a moment to read paragraph E-3. 

E-3 states that 

I'm sorry, if you could just read it to yourself. 

I'm sorry. I'm complete. 

Did you consider this particular paragraph E-3 

20 when formulating and preparing the enforcement 

21 investigative report in this case? 

22 

23 

24 

A. I did. 

Q. I want to direct your attention to paragraph F-1, 

which is found on Exhibit C-130. If you'll take a 

25 moment to read that paragraph to yourself, please. 

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THE COURT: Counsel, for my own 

avocation, tell me again what page this is on. 

MR. VINES: Paragraph F-1 is on 

Government Exhibit C-130. 

THE WITNESS: I'm ready. 

6 BY MR. VINES: 

7 Q. Did you consider this particular paragraph for 

8 purposes of preparing your EIR against Worldwide in 

9 this particular case? 

10 A. I did. 

11 Q. Did both of those paragraphs require that, and 

12 I'll refer back to paragraph E-3 found on Exhibit 

13 C-13M as in Mike, this paragraph requires that 

14 Worldwide document any mechanical discrepancy in the 

15 aircraft-maintenance log, I guess which is also known 

16 as aircraft-discrepancy form MX-02. 

17 In your investigation, did you obtain or expect 

18 to obtain any of the aircraft-maintenance logbook 

19 pages or aircraft-discrepancy forms that showed an 

20 entry of a discrepancy for an issue of the GPU unit on 

21 N90LJ Aircraft? 

22 A. I did. It wouldn't have been on the APU, it 

23 would have been on the aircraft. This form is not 

24 applicable to aircraft discrepancy. It is not an APU 

25 discrepancy. 

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1 Q. Okay. And what did your -- you said you 

2 attempted to obtain those particular maintenance logs? 

3 

4 

A. 

Q. 

I did. 

And did you have any luck, were you able to find 

5 any entries? 

6 A. Based on my investigation and asking the air 

7 carrier at the time for copies of the aircraft logs 

8 pertinent to this time frame, I was provided flight 

9 logs, but there were no MX-2 logs to be available to 

10 be issued to me. I then had to assume that no MX-2 

11 logs were generated if they were not provided to me. 

12 Q. And what about direct your attention to May 7, 

13 2009, there is evidence presented today that may or 

14 may not have revealed that there was damage, observed 

15 damage to aircraft skin on N90LJ, did you attempt to 

16 obtain any maintenance records from Worldwide showing 

17 that that particular damage to the aircraft skin was 

18 documented in the aircraft maintenance log or form, 

19 MX-02? 

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A. To my recollection --

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I have an 

objection. He is assuming that there is evidence 

of damage. 

raised. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

Do you have a response? 

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MR. VINES: Let me think, Judge. I'll 

rephrase. 

THE COURT: The objection is noted and 

rendered moved. The objection has been 

5 withdrawn. 

6 You may rephrase. 

7 BY MR. VINES: 

8 Q. Did you attempt to obtain maintenance records 

9 regarding N90LJ from the Respondent Worldwide Aircraft 

10 and or aircraft-discrepancy forms, MX-02, from 

11 Worldwide Aircraft regarding any entries made into the 

12 logbook or aircraft-maintenance logbook of N90LJ that 

13 would have the date of May 7, 2009? 

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15 

A. 

Q. 

16 that? 

17 A. 

I did. 

And what did you find, what was the result of 

There were, I would have to look at my actual 

18 report, but I knew there were numerous flight-log 

19 pages that represent dispatched aircraft flights of 

20 this tail number that were from the time frame of the 

21 incident happening in June. There was the date that I 

22 believe the aircraft was sent for repair. That time 

23 frame would have been pertinent to my investigation to 

24 try and document what the aircraft's operations had 

25 been since the day of the alleged incident until it 

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1 was repaired, that would have been part of my --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection to --

THE COURT: There is an objection. 

Mr. Honeycutt. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: We move to have that 

striked, that testimony, because Mr. Kahler again 

is attempting to state that there was damage to 

the aircraft. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the grounds that this witness has gone beyond 

the scope of the question and engaged in 

narrative. Do you have a response? 

MR. VINES: Judge, he was responding to 

my question. I asked if he sought to obtain any 

maintenance records or --

MR. HONEYCUTT: If he --

MR. VINES: any maintenance records 

or --

THE COURT: I know what the question 

was. I was here. Thank you. 

response to the objection? 

Do you have a 

MR. VINES: The witness responded to my 

question, Judge. 

THE COURT: The objection is noted and 

respectfully sustained. The answer is stricken. 

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It goes far beyond the scope of the question. 

The scope of the question involved, did you try 

to obtain, that is generally a yes or no 

response. 

Mr. Vines, would you like to ask the 

question again? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

8 BY MR. VINES: 

9 Q. Did you attempt to obtain any maintenance records 

10 regarding N90LJ, including MX-02 forms, that would 

11 have been covering the dates of May 3, 2009 through 

12 May 7, 2009? 

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14 

15 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, I did. 

And what did your investigation uncover? 

Without seeing my report, flight logs from the 

16 time frame that that airplane had flown between those 

17 dates. 

18 Q. So is it your response that -- let me back up, 

19 when you requested those particular maintenance 

20 documents that I referred to earlier from Worldwide, 

21 what response did you get from Worldwide? 

22 A. They provided me with aircraft dispatch or 

23 logbook forms that showed flights on that aircraft for 

24 the time frames that I requested. 

25 Q. I want to show you what's been marked as Exhibit 

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1 C-4A through C. Take a look at those, please. 

2 A. Yes, these appear to be the aircraft flight log 

3 and load manifest relative to November 90 Linda 

4 Juliette for the flights that were conducted during 

5 this time frame. 

Q. And this time frame is what? 

A. May 3rd through May 14th. 

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7 

8 Q. And you said earlier that you obtained those from 

9 Worldwide Aircraft? 

10 A. Yes, they were provided to me by Mr. Honeycutt at 

11 my request. 

12 Q. And did he provide anything else in response to 

13 your request? 

14 A. No, sir. 

15 Q. And those accurately reflect the documents that 

16 were provided by Mr. Honeycutt to you upon your 

17 request for aircraft-maintenance entries? 

18 A. Yes, to the best of my recollection. Its been 

19 years. 

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Q. Thank you. 

MR. VINES: The Administrator's Exhibit 

C-4 A, B, and C have already been admitted. 

would like to move to admit C-40 and E into 

evidence. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, any 

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objection? 

Honor. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection, your 

THE COURT: Exhibit C-40 and E is 

5 hereby admitted. 

6 - - - - -

7 (Whereupon, the documents were marked as C-40 

8 and C-4E for identification and admitted into 

9 evidence.) 

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11 BY MR. VINES: 

12 Q. Did Worldwide Aircraft ever provide you any 

13 maintenance documents regarding N90LJ upon your 

14 request for those documents? 

15 A. The document no. The documents that we just 

16 covered in C-4 are the only documents I received. 

17 Q. Specifically, when you requested those 

18 maintenance documents, what were you looking for? 

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20 

A. I was looking for any evidence of the aircraft's 

flights on the dates in question. I would have looked 

21 for any maintenance deferral, whether it was through 

22 an equipment list or through a maintenance discrepancy 

23 that would have documented the event that we were 

24 looking towards in our hot-line investigation that had 

25 to do with the AP being attached to the aircraft. 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, if I may? 

THE COURT: Yes. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Counsel keeps asking 

Inspector Kahler, did we provide what he 

requested, could the counsel or Mr. Kahler 

provide how he requested it? 

THE COURT: Well, you are welcome to 

address that in cross-examination if you'd like. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Well, I object to 

counsel asking Mr. Kahler did he request 

maintenance records. 

THE COURT: Okay. I'll note your 

objection and respectfully overrule it. Counsel 

can conduct his inquiry with some flexibility, 

but thank you. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

17 BY MR. VINES: 

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Q. I want to show you what's been marked as Exhibit 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

22 BY MR. VINES: 

23 Q. -- Exhibit C-BA and e-BB. Do you recognize these 

24 documents? 

25 A. Yes. 

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Q. 

A. 

How do you recognize these documents? 

I recognize these documents as copies of the 

3 statement that Brandon Plas provided Mr. Donahue on 

4 Mr. Donahue's request for his hot line. I included it 

5 in my (inaudible), and I included it in my enforcement 

6 action. 

7 Q. Did you consider that document, Exhibit C-8, as 

8 part of your investigation? 

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10 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, I did. 

And based on that document C-8, did you draw any 

11 conclusions? 

12 A. The conclusions would have been drawn through all 

13 of these documents, this just would have contributed 

14 to my investigation. This document seems to 

15 substantiate that the pilot was aware of the 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection. 

What is your basis of the objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Again, he is way beyond 

the scope. 

THE COURT: I'll sustain the objection. 

I think he is going into a narrative inquiry. 

You are welcome to continue. I'll 

strike the last part of your answer. You are 

welcome to continue with your direct. 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

2 Q. My question to you, Mr. Kahler, was, did you 

3 consider Exhibit C-8A and B as part of your 

4 investigation? 

5 

6 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, I did. 

Why did you consider that as part of your 

7 investigation? 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

It addressed events on the day in question. 

And were you able to form a conclusion based 

10 solely on that exhibit in front of you, C-8A and B? 

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A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, I was. 

You were able to draw a conclusion? 

Yes. 

And what is that? 

When the pilot became aware of the GPO being 

16 attached to the aircraft when he taxied out, that he 

17 called back to the company and reported it, and that 

18 this was well aware to the company as well that this 

19 event had happened. 

20 Q. Were you able to determine whether or not the 

21 problem with the GPO receptacle was documented? 

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23 

24 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, I could. 

And how was that? 

The pilot references the receptacle being 

25 unusable at his (inaudible) stop. 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, objection. 

Counsel again says damage to the aircraft. 

THE COURT: All right. I think there 

is a fundamental dispute between the parties as 

to whether or not damage could occur or didn't 

occur. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

THE COURT: So I will sustain the 

objection. 

Mr. Vines, you are assuming facts that 

are not in evidence yet. From my understanding, 

there has been two witnesses testifying before 

this witness and no one has asserted that damage 

has occurred. 

So if this witness is asserting that 

damage has occurred and he is testifying about 

it, you would need to have this witness testify 

about that so that it is in the record. 

Before we go on, I'll note that it is 

10 to noon --

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: -- so we need to take a 

very brief moment while Mr. Kahler is resting on 

the witness stand to talk about lunch recess and 

then have time for Mr. Honeycutt have a chance to 

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talk to Ms. Farmer before she is presented. 

So, Mr. Vines, do you have any thoughts 

about how to do that expeditiously? 

MR. VINES: Judge, I would ask that I 

be allowed to accompany Ms. Farmer. 

THE COURT: Of course. You are welcome 

to. She is your witness, but you can't obviously 

interfere or instruct. You also should not be 

instructing her on how to answer questions, that 

kind of thing, similar to a deposition. Go 

ahead. 

MR. VINES: So with that, Judge, I'll 

refer to you, Judge, on time. Again, I don't 

know if, in fact, the Respondent does want to 

meet with Ms. Farmer. 

THE COURT: Well, it would be no more 

than an hour to the last court's directive, less 

than that if Mr. Honeycutt is satisfied. 

Can you advise the Court as to how many 

other witnesses you are planning to call today? 

MR. VINES: Judge, the Administrator 

plans to call two more additional witnesses 

today. 

THE COURT: And who might those be? 

MR. VINES: ASI Martha Farmer and ASI 

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Mike Singleton. 

THE COURT: Okay. How much longer, if 

you can estimate, would your direct examination 

of Mr. Kahler be? 

MR. VINES: Judge, probably, I would 

say it would take a majority of the afternoon. 

So if we return at 1:00, I would say 3:30 or 

4:00. 

THE COURT: For Mr. Kahler alone? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: And then how would you 

squeeze in Ms. Farmer and Mr. Singleton before 

5:00? 

MR. VINES: I would anticipate, Judge, 

if I needed to, I would have time to go into 

tomorrow, Judge, to do that. 

THE COURT: If I recall -- and I don't 

have the 

Mr. Honeycutt, how many witnesses are 

you planning to call at this point? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Two for sure and three 

possibly, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Okay. All right. Well 

since we only have until 5:00 tomorrow, you may 

want to, Mr. Vines, see if you can condense Mr. 

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Kahler's testimony just a smidgen so that we can 

perhaps get one more witness of your's taken care 

of today before 5. 

I'm not suggesting that you eliminate 

anything that is essential, but if you could kind 

of review what you are planning to do, that would 

be great. 

It sounds like what we'll need to do is 

reserve Ms. Farmer for tomorrow, and what we can 

do this afternoon, when we close, is schedule the 

one hour for the close of the time period today. 

I'll check with the court personnel. 

The Courthouse typically closes at 5, but people 

do stay pass that. I'm thinking that we should 

probably end at 4:30 today, that way we can give 

the parties from 4:30 to 5:30 to interview Ms. 

Farmer, and then Mr. Honeycutt could consult with 

Mr. Bowen or anyone else on how that interview 

went in conjunction with Exhibit C-17 and C-18 

that have already been admitted. Then Ms. Farmer 

can come back tomorrow and testify and have Mr. 

Honeycutt feel a little bit more confident in 

whatever cross he wants to ask. 

In terms of a lunch hour, how much time 

do you usually like to take, Mr. Vines? 

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MR. VINES: Judge, I'm fine with 30 

minutes. 

THE COURT: That is way too little for 

the Court. I will ask the Court personnel how 

hard, how difficult it is to get in and out of 

the Court. 

Officer, if you could give us an idea? 

THE BAILIFF: There is usually no line 

at this time of day coming back in, but you have 

to go through the machines that you went through 

this morning. 

THE COURT: Right. Would it be better, 

do you think, if we recessed at 12:15 and then 

come back at 1:15, would that make it a little 

easier downstairs; would most people be done by 

then? I don't know what the calendar is like. 

THE BAILIFF: Everyone usually goes to 

lunch around 11:30, 12. 

THE COURT: And then when they take the 

noon recess, do they come back at 1? 

THE BAILIFF: Usually. 

THE COURT: Thank you, sir. 

So if we move into recessing at 12:15, 

madam court reporter, would you be able to last 

until then? 

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THE COURT REPORTER: Yes. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines? 

MR. VINES: Yes. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes. 

THE COURT: Why don't we do that, and 

we can try and avoid the lines downstairs when 

everyone else comes back in. 

So with that, Mr. Kahler, thank you for 

your patience. We're going to continue your 

testimony for about another 18 minutes. 

THE WITNESS: That is fine, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines. 

14 BY MR. VINES: 

15 Q. Inspector Kahler, I asked you earlier, did you 

16 consider Exhibit C-8A and C-8B as part of your 

17 investigation. I want to direct your attention to 

18 exhibit C-8B as in boy, the third paragraph down, 

19 actually the second full paragraph from the top of the 

20 page. 

21 

22 

A. 

Q. 

I see it. 

In this particular statement, the PIC Brandon 

23 Plas in his statement said --

24 

25 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, he is 

leading. Again, the document C-8A and C-8B were 

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not admitted. 

THE COURT: Actually, Mr. Honeycutt, 

Exhibit C-8 in its entirety was admitted. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: It was? 

THE COURT: Yes, earlier this morning, 

and it was without objection. I can tell you it 

was during Mr. Plas' own testimony that the 

document was moved for admission and granted with 

no objection by you. 

So all of the material in Exhibit C-8 

is available to this witness for testimony, but I 

will sustain the objection impart this witness 

doesn't have to read the document to the Court, 

nor does the witness have to agree that what is 

written is written there. He simply needs to 

16 draw some conclusions, if he may. 

17 So I'll sustain the objection simply 

18 for the purpose of rephrasing the question. 

19 Mr. Vines. 

20 BY MR. VINES: 

21 Q. In this statement, Inspector, Mr. Plas stated 

22 that when he tried and failed to plug in the GPU, he 

23 noticed that the pins were bent and that was not 

24 allowing the GPU plug into the aircraft, did you 

25 consider that particular statement as part of your 

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1 investigation? 

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A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes. 

Why is that? 

It demonstrated a malfunction of the aircraft to 

5 accept a receptacle, meaning it was unserviceable. 

6 Q. And moving down to the fourth paragraph, Mr. 

7 Plas, the pilot, made a statement that no write up was 

8 completed by him at this time because of the GPU 

9 outlet working properly at the previous two stops, did 

10 you consider that particular statement as part of your 

11 investigation? 

12 A. I can say the whole document was relative to my 

13 investigation, yes. 

14 Q. And in concert with the Respondent's General 

15 Operations Manual, specifically paragraphs E-3 and 

16 F-1, specifically the ones that you and I discussed 

17 earlier, were you able to draw a conclusion regarding 

18 Mr. Plas' statement, as well as the General Operations 

19 Manual? 

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21 

22 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I was. 

And what was that? 

My conclusion is that the manual guides 

23 procedures --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection. 

THE COURT: Go ahead. 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: I object to the 

foundation. There is no foundation. 

THE COURT: Well Exhibit C-13 was 

admitted into evidence and was discussed by this 

witness earlier today. So what foundation 

objection do you have in particular? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, he is 

making a conclusion of referencing the MX-02 was 

damaged based off of the statement. 

THE COURT: Okay. So essentially your 

objection is because he has not asserted in no 

way shape or form that the bent pins, which he 

identifies as unserviceable and a malfunction is 

not damage, that there is an insufficient 

corollary between the question and his testimony 

so far? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, do you have any 

response? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. I am asking 

the witness --

THE COURT: I know what you are asking 

him. I want you to respond to the objection. 

MR. VINES: Sure. The objection is 

that's the answer by which-- the answer I expect 

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to elicit from the witness is exactly what the 

Respondent is arguing or objecting to Mr. Kahler 

testifying to. 

THE COURT: I'm going to sustain the 

objection. That actually is a nexus that y.ou 

need to bring out through this witness before he 

begins to talk about damage and the corollary 

with Exhibit 13, the General Operations Manual. 

So I suspect that you can address that 

fairly quickly with this witness, and you may 

proceed. The objection is sustained. 

12 BY MR. VINES: 

13 Q. Mr. Kahler, when you characterize the GPU 

14 receptacle bent pins, you characterized those as 

15 unserviceable, do you consider the bent pins and the 

16 GPU receptacle ''damage'' to the aircraft? 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, it is 

leading. 

THE COURT: Your objection is noted and 

respectfully sustained. You can ask it as a 

direct question. This is a direct witness. 

22 BY MR. VINES: 

23 

24 

25 

Q. Do you consider the bent pins damaged? 

MR. BOWEN: Same thing. 

THE COURT: Mr. Bowen, you can't speak 

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for Mr. Honeycutt. 

Mr. Honeycutt. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, your Honor, 

he is leading the witness to make a certain kind 

of statement. 

THE COURT: It is sustained. 

7 A leading question is where the answer 

8 could be yes or no as opposed to a direct 

9 question which is a narrative. 

10 Can you rephrase your question, please? 

11 BY MR. VINES: 

12 Q. Mr. Kahler, how do you characterize the bent pins 

13 in the GPU receptacle? 

14 A. The receptacle has a function for the aircraft. 

15 It must be functional to do its purpose. If you 

16 cannot connect the plug to the aircraft and that was 

17 its purpose, I'd draw the conclusion that it is 

18 malfunctioning and a failure of the unit. 

19 Based on the statement of the pilot previously 

20 where he says he believes he left the plug attached to 

21 the aircraft when he taxied off of the ramp, its 

22 removal in that manner from being removed in its 

23 normal manner, I drew the conclusion that the 

24 malfunction of the plug was now a result of damage 

25 done to the aircraft as a result of that occurrence. 

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1 Q. Would you consider the bent pins, not only 

2 damage, but would you consider that a mechanical 

3 discrepancy? 

4 A. It would have been to the fact that the aircraft 

5 was not manufactured or intended to have a receptacle 

6 that could not be utilized, therefore it was unusable 

7 based on the plug being removed in its unusual manner, 

8 I would consider that damage. 

9 Q. So I will re-ask you the question, in concert 

10 with Mr. Plas' statement along with what the law 

11 applies with the GOM, did you draw any conclusions 

12 based on those two documents? 

13 A. The abnormality of the plug to perform its 

14 function constituted a mechanical irregularity or a 

15 discrepancy upon the aircraft would have been intended 

16 to be used and from a pilot's point of view, which is 

17 not one of repairing or determining a repair extent, 

18 but just will it perform its function or not where it 

19 could not perform its function, that was a discrepancy 

20 with the aircraft that should have been written up, 

21 passed to the maintenance people for their 

22 determination to see if there was a malfunction on 

23 behalf of the operator, on behalf of the aircraft, or 

24 both. 

25 Q. When you state should have been written up, is 

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1 there any particular authority that prescribes that 

2 the bent prong, bent pins, in the GPU should have been 

3 documented? 

4 A. JET I.C.U. 's General Operations Manual gives 

5 guidance on the pages you had referenced before in 

6 paragraphs E-3 and F-1 that that record is of the 

7 responsibility of the person discovering the 

8 malfunction, their ability and way of reporting it to 

9 the Director of Maintenance is through the process 

10 established in their manual, which is documenting on 

11 the MX-02 form and that that forms purpose is to track 

12 the discrepancy, as well as the repair, maintain that 

13 the aircraft was maintained, and that there was a 

14 status throughout the process of the determination by 

15 the Director of Maintenance as to whether it was or 

16 was not an error on this issue. 

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MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

MR. VINES: Judge, this next topic, I 

don't know if we can get through. I would 

probably recommend that we go ahead and take a 

break now. This is probably going to be a 

15-minute topic. 

THE COURT: Well, I would actually like 

you to start. This way, if we take our break a 

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little later, you and Mr. Honeycutt and others 

will not have to stand in line for so long at the 

security level. So I think we want to use our 

time as best we can right now. 

Please continue. 

MR. VINES: Okay. May I approach the 

witness, Judge? 

THE COURT: You may. 

9 BY MR. VINES: 

10 Q. Let me show you what's been marked as Exhibit 

11 C-10 which has been moved into evidence. Do you 

12 recognize this document? 

13 

14 

15 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I do. 

How do you recognize this document? 

It is a statement made by employee Brian Fanning 

16 at Worldwide Aircraft upon the request of Inspector 

17 Frank Schaefer as part of his hot-line investigation. 

18 Q. And referencing paragraph two of the exhibit, did 

19 you have an occasion to consider paragraph, excuse me, 

20 the first sentence of paragraph two of Mr. Fanning's 

21 statement as part of your investigation? 

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A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes. 

Why did you consider that? 

It is a documentation and the statement of the 

25 mechanic that states that he did, in fact, find a 

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1 small amount of damage to the non-structural section 

2 of the fuselage skin just aft the receptacle. 

3 Q. And based on that particular statement, as well 

4 as the lack of maintenance records that were produced 

5 to you by Worldwide Aircraft, did that cause any 

6 concern for you? 

7 A. Mr. Fanning is a mechanic. As such, he owns an 

8 Airframe-and-Power-Plant Certificate making him a 

9 qualified person to determine damage to an aircraft, 

10 something I do not hold in AP. 

11 Based on this, I think this substantiated the 

12 fact, from his respect of having a certificate to 

13 being a mechanic, that there was damage to the 

14 aircraft, therefore if there is damage to the aircraft 

15 by the company's own Operations Manual, that damage 

16 should have been recorded, (inaudible) and agreed, 

17 accepted by the operator of the FAA. 

18 By the fact that I had asked Mr. Honeycutt for 

19 all the documents pertaining to my investigation on 

20 the flights, which is C-4, no MX-2 documents were 

21 provided to me when I requested these documents for 

22 these time frames and lack of an MX-2 document being 

23 presented, I made the assumption no maintenance 

24 recordings were made because Mr. Honeycutt would have 

25 provided me with the documents that I had asked for 

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1 him. 

2 Q. There's been testimony today by Brian Fanning, he 

3 testified earlier, and if I recall correctly the 

4 testimony was, that you requested or that you 

5 communicated with Mr. Fanning regarding this 

6 particular incident that took place on May 7, 2009 

7 that is referenced in Exhibit C-10, do you recall 

8 having any conversations with Mr. Brian Fanning? 

9 A. I don't recall. By looking at C-10, being that 

10 it is addressed to Mr. Schaefer and not myself, I have 

11 to make the assumption Mr. Schaefer made this request 

12 of Mr. Fanning because he did not address the letter 

13 to me. 

14 Q. There's also then a statement that they say about 

15 Mr. Fanning that you contacted Mr. Fanning, that 

16 Mr. Fanning provided you with a statement, and you did 

17 not like that statement. You asked him to provide you 

18 with a second statement. Do you recall whether or not 

19 that happening? 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, your Honor, 

leading. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the grounds of leading. Do you have a 

response? 

MR. VINES: I would argue that it is 

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not leading, Judge. 

THE COURT: I'm sorry? 

MR. VINES: I would argue that it is 

not leading, Judge. 

THE COURT: I'm going to sustain the 

objection. It is leading. Any answer on the 

7 record is hereby stricken. 

8 You may proceed with a new question to 

9 ask this witness. 

10 BY MR. VINES: 

11 Q. Do you recall receiving two statements from Mr. 

12 Brian Fanning? 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Leading again, your 

Honor. 

THE COURT: It is again leading. The 

objection is sustained. 

MR. VINES: Judge, I would respectfully 

disagree with your determination. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

MR. VINES: But I will attempt to 

rephrase. 

THE COURT: Thank you. Usually a 

leading question calls for a yes or no response. 

So if you want to have questions geared so they 

are a narrative response, not a yes or no 

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response. If you can, so try. 

MR. VINES: I'll do my best. 

THE COURT: Obviously there are some 

exceptions to that for (inaudible) matters or 

setting a stage for evidentiary material to enter 

into the record, but I'm not quite sure that 

we're there yet. 

8 You can continue. 

9 BY MR. VINES: 

10 Q. There is testimony today by Mr. Brian Fanning 

11 that he produced to you two separate statements. Do 

12 you agree with that testimony that was admitted to 

13 today? 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, your Honor, 

leading. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the grounds of leading. I'll sustain the 

objection. 

You may want to ask the witness what 

this witness does recall about his interaction 

with Mr. Fanning. 

22 BY MR. VINES: 

23 Q. Inspector Kahler, do you recall any interaction 

24 with Mr. Brian Fanning during the course of your 

25 investigation in this matter? 

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1 A. To the best of my recollection, I would have 

2 notified the Mechanic Brian Fanning that --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, he is 

exceeding the question. 

MR. VINES: Judge, I'm going to object 

to the nature of --

THE COURT: I'm going to stop you. 

MR. VINES: Sure. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the grounds of beyond the scope of the 

question. Do you have a response? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Objection is noted and 

respectfully sustained. 

Part of the answer that goes beyond the 

scope of the question is hereby stricken, and it 

is the part of the question that starts to 

narrate the explanation. 

Mr. Vines, you were going to raise an 

objection of your own, do you have an objection 

at this point that you would like to raise to the 

Court? 

MR. VINES: Judge, again, as the Court 

has observed, Mr. Honeycutt is representing his 

company, however he does have an individual 

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assisting him today. However, it has become 

apparent to myself that Mr. Honeycutt is becoming 

simply a conductor of the objections and or 

questions from his assistant, Mr. Paul Bowen, by 

which he is carrying on during the proceeding of 

this case. 

I would object to the manner in which 

Mr. Bowen is instructing Mr. Honeycutt as to how 

to object as to what questions to ask. Also, 

Judge --

THE COURT: Counsel, could you face the 

Court when you are talking to the Court. 

MR. VINES: I 'rn sorry. I would also 

object, Judge, that it is disruptive. On several 

occasions, it has become loud at the Respondent's 

table. I am unable to effectively ask my 

inspector questions, and he is not effectively 

able to answer my questions due to the nature, 

the noise and the distractions that are corning 

from the Respondent's table. 

THE COURT: What noise are you talking 

about? Since this court has been present to, I'm 

not sure what you are referring to. 

MR. VINES: The conversations, the 

whispers. 

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THE COURT: Okay. So you can hear 

something that I haven't been able to hear? 

MR. VINES: Yes. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, there's been 

an objection to the conduct of you and your 

assistant during these proceedings. Do you have 

any response? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, counsel is 

not following the rules, and I'm objecting to the 

rules, and he is having a hard time with that. 

ask that counsel follow the rules. 

THE COURT: There's also been an 

assertion that the conversations between you and 

your assistant are a little loud and are 

distracting, would you be able to conduct a more 

quiet dialogue with your assistant? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I apologize to the 

Court, your Honor, we will try to be quieter. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you so much. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Thank you. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, I'll 

I 

respectfully note your objection and overrule it, 

and you have chosen your assistant, Ms. Farmer, 

and you have spent some time in colloquy with her 

this morning, which is your right and privilege. 

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Mr. Honeycutt has chosen Mr. Bowen as his 

assistant, and he to can spend some time with Mr. 

Bowen at his counsel table, which is his right 

and privilege. 

I have not -- I do not share your 

perception that somehow Mr. Honeycutt's 

consultation is disruptive or distracting. I 

will, however, take into consideration that you 

are a little closer to him than I. I will 

respectfully ask Mr. Honeycutt to lower his voice 

and conduct his conversations with Mr. Bowen more 

quietly. 

In terms of you, Mr. Vines, being 

unable to address questions with Mr. Kahler, 

quite frankly most of the objections raised by 

Mr. Honeycutt have merit, and the Court has 

sustained many of them. That is part of the 

process of the vigorous hearing. It does create 

some disquiet on occasion when you have some 

questions that you want to ask and then find that 

you must reassess and try and ask them 

differently. 

I suspect that you'll have some 

objections when Mr. Honeycutt conducts his own 

inquiry, and the Court will take them with the 

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same careful consideration as it has this morning 

with Mr. Honeycutt's. 

It is now 12:18. It looks like it is 

time for us to have our lunch recess. 

Mr. Vines, will you be able to pick up 

about where you left off at this point when we 

reconvene, or do you need one or two more 

questions? 

MR. VINES: I'll pick up where we left 

off, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Mr. Kahler, thank you very much for 

your testimony. You will need to return to the 

witness stand one hour from now so that we can 

continue. 

In the interim, I'll direct you not to 

discuss your testimony with any other party other 

than Mr. Vines and or Mr. Honeycutt. If 

Mr. Vines is present with you, there is always an 

opportunity to do that informally. 

Mr. Vines, and, Mr. Honeycutt, if you 

see other witnesses before we recess for lunch, 

please be sure and let them know about the 

Court's directive about keeping the testimony 

privileged at this point in time. 

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With that, I'll see you all back here 

in one hour at 1:20. 

We're off the record. 

(Whereupon, a brief recess was taken.) 

THE COURT: We're back on the record in 

the matter of Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. 

This is Docket No. FAA-2013-0045. We've 

reconvened after approximately a 70-minute 

recess. All parties have returned to the hearing 

room and our witness, Mr. Kahler, has reseated 

himself in the witness chair. 

Sir, you are still under oath. 

THE WITNESS: Okay. 

THE COURT: At the time of our noon 

recess, Mr. Vines was in the process of direct 

examination. 

Mr. Vines, do you have other questions? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. I will pick up 

21 where I left off in an attempt to elicit the 

22 testimony I was seeking earlier. 

23 BY MR. VINES: 

24 Q. Mr. Kahler, there was testimony provided today by 

25 Brian Fanning who is an employee of Worldwide who is 

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1 an AP Certificate. He has also admitted in testimony 

2 that he, in fact, did write and sign the statement 

3 that is referenced as Government Exhibit C-10. He 

4 also testified that he provided to you two separate 

5 statements. Do you agree or disagree with that 

6 testimony? 

7 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I disagree. 

Why do you disagree? 

I have no recollection asking him for another 

10 statement --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, your Honor, 

he is attempting to lead the witness again. 

THE COURT: I'm going to overrule the 

objection. It is leading, but I think it is more 

of a set-up question. I'm going to allow it. 

The answer I disagree will stand. The narrative 

17 portion that followed that is stricken. 

18 You're welcome to ask your next 

19 question. 

20 BY MR. VINES: 

21 

22 

23 

Q. Why do you disagree with that? 

A. I have no recollection of asking him for more 

than one statement. I don't have a real recollection 

24 of asking him for the first statement. My course 

25 my case, relied on this written statement that I 

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1 obtained from Inspector Schaefer, that's the one I can 

2 say I have a recollection of the accounting of this 

3 testimony from Mr. Fanning. 

4 Q. So it is your position that you did not request 

5 any statement from Mr. Fanning? 

6 A. The statement, as I read it, is pertinent to 

7 Mr. Fanning's actions. My purpose in this 

8 investigation would have been to ask the Operator, JET 

9 I.C.U. for documents. I don't see why I would have 

10 asked the mechanic, I would have asked the Operator 

11 for the statements such as I did for these flight logs 

12 and load manifests. 

13 Q. With that in mind, there was also testimony from 

14 Brian Fanning that you rejected the first statement 

15 that he produced to you because, in his first 

16 statement, he denied --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Leading again. 

MR. VINES: Judge, I would ask to be 

able to finish the question first. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Well, it is leading. 

You are telling the witness what you want him to 

say. 

THE COURT: Well, I think given the 

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fact that there was an agreed motion to exclude 

witnesses from the hearing room, if this 

witness -- if Mr. Vines wants to ask this witness 

about Mr. Fanning's testimony to a certain 

extent, he has to summarize it for him. 

So I'm going to overrule the objection 

at this time. I'll ask Mr. Vines to complete his 

8 question or perhaps to restart it, and then we'll 

9 see if there is another objection. 

10 Mr. Vines. 

11 BY MR. VINES: 

12 Q. With your prior answer in mind, there was 

13 testimony from Brian Fanning that he did submit to you 

14 a statement prior to the one that stated or marked as 

15 C-10 and that that first statement Mr. Fanning denied 

16 that there was any damage to the aircraft skin and 

17 because of that, you rejected that first letter that 

18 Mr. Fanning provided to you and instead asked him to 

19 produce this letter that's represented as Government 

20 Exhibit C-10. Do you understand my question? 

21 

22 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, I will stick to my --

And with that being said, do you agree or 

23 disagree with Mr. Fanning's statement? 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

I disagree. 

Why do you disagree? 

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1 A. I have no recollection of asking him directly for 

2 his statement. 

3 Q. With those answers in mind, again I'll ask you, 

4 Mr. Fanning testified earlier today that if he did not 

5 provide you with a second statement that you had 

6 threatened him with a ''full investigation''. Do you 

7 agree or disagree with Mr. Fanning's statement? 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

A. I disagree. 

Q. Why do you disagree? 

A. What I conducted was a full investigation. 

There's an EIR. I conducted the investigation. There 

is no full or half. It is what it is. 

Q. Do you have any reason to believe that the 

14 statement referenced in C-10 is an untruthful 

15 statement? 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor. 

THE COURT: Yes. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Leading again. He is 

asking is it true or not true. 

THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Honeycutt. 

There's been an objection on the grounds of 

leading and within the scope of this witness' 

knowledge. Do you have a response? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge, I'm asking him 

if he has any external facts or bases to conclude 

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1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

whether or not the statement by Mr. Fanning 

exhibited in C-10 is truthful or untruthful. 

THE COURT: I'm going to sustain the 

objection on the grounds that it is leading. 

MR. VINES: Okay. 

6 BY MR. VINES: 

7 Q. Do you have any opinion, if any, as to whether 

8 the statement in C-10 by Mr. Brian Fanning is 

9 truthful? 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, your Honor. 

THE COURT: What's the basis of your 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Again, leading, is it 

truthful or not. 

THE COURT: Sustained. 

MR. VINES: Judge, again, I'm 

attempting to ask the witness --

THE COURT: I know what you are 

attempting to ask, Mr. Vines. I do know. You're 

20 welcome to try again. 

21 BY MR. VINES: 

22 Q. Did you consider this statement that's referenced 

23 in C-10 as part of your investigation? 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

It was. 

And did it any way effect the outcome of your 

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1 investigation? 

2 A. It substantiated a statement that I could use in 

3 reference to the occurrence that I obtained from the 

4 hot-line information being that it was signed and on 

5 letterhead and addressed to the inspector of the FAA, 

6 I felt it was credible and usable in my investigation. 

7 Q. You felt it was credible, is that my 

8 understanding of your testimony? 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. Yes. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Move to strike that, 

your Honor. 

THE COURT: On what grounds? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Again, leading and 

credibility. 

MR. VINES: I'm asking --

THE COURT: I'm going to stop you. I'm 

going to overrule the objection simply because it 

was repeating what this witness already testified 

to, and the answer will stand. 

You're welcome to cross-examine. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, do you have any 

other questions of this witness? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

2 

3 

4 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Why did you find this statement to be credible? 

Did I find it incredible? 

No, I'm sorry. I said, "Why do you find this 

5 statement to be credible''? 

6 A. It is a normal practice when someone signs their 

7 name to a statement that what they're signing their 

8 name to is their statement of an event. Otherwise, 

9 why would they sign it. 

10 

11 

Q. 

A. 

Thank you. 

I use that same logic with many documents in my 

12 business. 

13 

14 

Q. Thank you. Inspector, I want to direct your 

attention to Exhibit C-6A and C-6B. Is that on the 

15 witness stand? 

16 

17 

18 

19 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir. 

Have you had an occasion to view this document? 

Yes, sir, I have. 

And did you consider this statement as part of 

20 your investigation? 

21 

22 

A. 

Q. 

It was included in my investigation. 

What, if anything, about the statement is 

23 relevant to your investigation? 

24 A. It chronologically states occurrences that were 

25 documented by the people that were involved, gathered 

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1 by Mr. Schaefer, the investigator, under the hat-line 

2 complaint. 

3 Q. And did this statement aid in your conclusion as 

4 to whether damage occurred to the non-structural 

5 section of the fuselage skin that was observed let 

6 me back up, does this statement in any way age your 

7 conclusion that damage occurred to the aircraft skin 

8 of N90LJ? 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, objection, 

leading again. 

THE COURT: Sustained. 

MR. VINES: I'll rephrase. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

BY MR. VINES: 

Q. What, if any, support did this document, 

16 referenced in C-6A and C-68, aid to your finding that 

17 damage occurred to N90LJ Aircraft skin? 

18 A. The documents corroborate with the other items 

19 approved in my case that an event occurred in a 

20 certain sequence with certain people involved. It 

21 supported that it chronologically documented the 

22 events, and it help me understand what my 

23 investigation was based upon and that it was relevant 

24 to my investigation. 

25 Q. Thank you. 

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1 

2 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

3 BY MR. VINES: 

4 

5 

Q. This is marked as C-11. I'm going to show you 

what's been admitted into evidence as C-11. Do you 

6 recognize this document? 

7 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I do. 

How do you recognize this document? 

It was a document obtained by Inspector Schaefer 

10 during his investigation of the hot-line complaint 

11 with regards to the repair applied to N90LJ in the 

12 area of the receptacle and skin of the aircraft. 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

Q. And what, if any --

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, it doesn't 

say repair anywhere in that statement. 

THE COURT: Is that an objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor. 

THE COURT: What is the basis of your 

objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: That the document 

doesn't state repaired. 

THE COURT: I'll simply note that, and 

you are welcome to cross-examine. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

THE COURT: I'll overrule your 

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1 objection, and the answer will stand. 

2 Mr. Vines. 

3 BY MR. VINES: 

4 Q. Inspector, what support, if any, did this 

5 document aid you in your investigation? 

6 A. It substantiated that the parts of the aircraft, 

7 in particular, the GPU receptacle, mounting bracket 

8 and the skin area of N90LJ were, in fact, replaced or 

9 reworked. 

10 Q. Thank you. Are you familiar with an individual 

11 named Brian Fanning? 

12 

13 

14 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I am. 

How do you know him? 

Brian Fanning was an employee of Worldwide during 

15 the time I was their Principle Operations Inspector. 

16 Q. And are you familiar with an individual named 

17 Brandon Plas? 

18 

19 

20 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I am. 

How are you familiar with him? 

He was an employee of Worldwide Aircraft when I 

21 was a Principle Operations Inspector for the 

22 Certificate. 

23 

24 

25 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Q. I'm going to show you what's been marked as 

exhibit C-14A. Do you recognize this document? 

A. I do. 

Q. What is it? 

A. This is the original -- it is not the original, 

7 it is a copy of the original because this one is not 

8 signed. The original would be signed. 

9 This is a copy of my letter dated July 7th sent 

10 to Mr. Honeycutt informing him of my investigation of 

11 an incident that occurred on May 3, 2009 involving 

12 Learjet N90LJ. 

13 Q. Is this what the Agency refers to as a letter of 

14 investigation? 

15 

16 

A. Yes, this is commonly referred to as a letter of 

investigation. It is the initial notification to an 

17 operator that an investigation by the FAA is being 

18 initiated. 

19 Q. And you mentioned earlier that this is a copy 

20 without your signature; is that correct? 

21 

22 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir, that is what I'm noticing. 

Everything else on that document, would that be 

23 the information or a copy of the letter that was 

24 actually sent to Mr. Honeycutt at Worldwide Aircraft? 

25 A. Yes, sir. 

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1 Q. Of course the exception being, this particular 

2 document referenced in C-14A doesn't have your 

3 signature? 

4 A. The original would have went to Mr. Honeycutt. 

5 That's why it isn't here. 

6 Q. And also attached to that exhibit is a 

7 return-receipt card; is that correct? 

8 

9 

A. Yes, it documents that the letter was sent and 

tracked. It has been signed for by some employee, 

10 either by Mr. Honeycutt or for Mr. Honeycutt at 

11 Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. and returned to us 

12 to show that substantiated delivery was made. 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. VINES: At this time, the 

Administrator moves to move Exhibit C-14A into 

evidence. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No objection. 

THE COURT: There being no objection 

Exhibit C-14A is hereby admitted. 

(Whereupon the document was marked as C-14A 

for identification and admitted into 

evidence.) 

THE COURT: Just for my clarification, 

Mr. Vines, I have an Exhibit C-14B in my 

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1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

possession that shows a certified receipt, is 

that actually the original attached to C-14A? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: So we don't have a C-14B? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you so much. 

7 BY MR. VINES: 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

Q. Do you recall whether you received --

MR. BOWEN: Your Honor --

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, only you can 

speak. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Right. I understand. 

THE COURT: Mr. Bowen, I'll remind you 

of that. 

Mr. Honeycutt, is there anything you 

need from the Court at this time? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: May I have a minute, 

your Honor? 

THE COURT: Sure. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, we're fine, your 

Honor. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Mr. Vines, you may continue. 

24 BY MR. VINES: 

25 Q. Sir, do you recall if you received a response 

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1 from Worldwide Aircraft from your letter of 

2 investigation that you sent? 

3 

4 

A. 

Q. 

I have no record in response from Mr. Honeycutt. 

I want to talk to you for a minute about the 

5 position of Director of Operation, what is that 

6 position, first of all, is that position required of a 

7 Part 135 Operator? 

8 

9 

10 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Of his size and scope, yes, it was. 

By his, you are referring to Worldwide Aircraft? 

Worldwide Aircraft required a Director of 

11 Operations is one of the three required Part 119 

12 Management Personnel. 

13 Q. And what is the purpose of a Director of 

14 Operation? 

15 A. Generally, it is to monitor the dispatch, the 

16 training, the manual, and the personnel of the company 

17 to keep them operating in the course of the operating 

18 specifications. 

19 Q. I want to ask you specifically about the General 

20 Operations Manual, would that be covered or be 

21 required of a Director of Operations with regard to 

22 making sure employees were familiar with that? 

23 

24 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, yes. 

Do you recall during 2009 how many pilots were 

25 employed by the Respondent? 

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1 A. I believe, yes. I can give details if you need 

2 it. 

3 Q. What would be -- what is your recollection of the 

4 number of pilots that were employed by the Respondent 

5 in 2009? 

6 A. I have found records of check rides I 

7 administered in 2009 to seven pilots, being that they 

8 are only required to be looked at by me every six 

9 months. 

10 Any time during that year, one of those six could 

11 have left and went to another company, and I would not 

12 have been aware of that, but I have documented six 

13 check rides that were given during 2009 by me to 

14 pilots that during that year were employed with 

15 Worldwide Aircraft. 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

Q. Thank you. 

MR. VINES: Nothing further for this 

witness, Judge. 

THE COURT: Before I turn to Mr. 

Honeycutt for cross-examination, I would like you 

to address one thing. 

There has been repeated references 

during your direct of a hot-line complaint but 

its never been explained, would you care to 

explain that in your direct? 

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1 

2 

MR. VINES: I will, Judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

3 BY MR. VINES: 

4 Q. Inspector, you referenced a hot-line complaint 

5 earlier in your testimony, would you please explain 

6 for the Court what a hot-line complaint is and what 

7 the response, the Administrator, carries out after 

8 receiving a hot-line complaint. 

9 A. In general, the program is provided by the 

10 Federal Government to the citizens of the United 

11 States should they find some irregularity or a safety 

12 concern that they figure needs attention from the 

13 Administrator. 

14 There is a vehicle or a mechanism through the 

15 Internet to contact the FAA directly and make this 

16 complaint. This complaint goes from the Administrator 

17 down to the respective FSDO. That would be how the 

18 jurisdiction of how the complaint was registered for, 

19 and it normally provides an expeditious response by 

20 the FSDO to investigate and respond back to the FAA 

21 based on what their findings were, is it factual, is 

22 it not, what is the rest of the story based on the 

23 complaint initiated by the public. 

24 Q. In this particular case, are you aware of what 

25 the hot-line complaint was about? 

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1 A. In general, not having the hot-line complaint in 

2 front of me, I can't be specific. In general, it was 

3 about this incident of the aircraft being taxied with 

4 the GPU being attached to it and the crew taking off 

5 with the airplane unaware that it was still attached 

6 to the aircraft. That is my generalization of it. 

7 Q. I believe earlier that you testified about an 

8 APU, am I correct in my recollection? 

9 A. It is an acronym of which the organization isn't 

10 so fond of to begin with, but it stands for Aircraft 

11 Power Unit, but the truth is an Aircraft Power Unit is 

12 normally a self contained, self generated, normally 

13 run by gasoline or some kind of fuel, and it works 

14 independent. 

15 I believe in this case, the correct term would be 

16 Power Cart because this required power being fed to it 

17 in order to change the power to the correct amperage 

18 and voltage to continue carrying power to the jet, I 

19 believe this was a power cart, not an auxiliary-power 

20 unit. 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. VINES: Nothing further, Judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Mr. Honeycutt, do you have any 

cross-examination of this witness? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am, I do. 

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1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

THE COURT: There's been an inquiry 

from Mr. Kahler. 

Do you need a recess, sir? 

THE WITNESS: Two minutes would really 

help. 

THE COURT: Why don't we take a 

five-minute recess. 

With that, we're off the record. 

(Whereupon, a brief recess was taken.) 

THE COURT: We're back on the record in 

the matter of Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. 

Docket No. FAA-2013-0045. 

We've reconvened after approximately a 

seven-minute recess. All parties previously 

identified have returned to the hearing room. 

Our witness, Mr. Kahler, has reseated himself in 

the witness chair. 

Sir, you are still under oath. 

Mr. Honeycutt, do you have any 

cross-examination? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am, your Honor, 

I do. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

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1 

2 CROSS-EXAMINATION 

3 -----

4 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

5 Q. Mr. Kahler, I just want to clarify, you sent a 

6 letter of investigation to Worldwide Aircraft in 

7 reference to the hot-line complaint that was received 

8 and that letter that you sent to Worldwide Aircraft 

9 was dated July 7th 

THE COURT: I believe it is Exhibit 

C-14. 

10 

11 

12 MR. HONEYCUTT: Thank you, your Honor. 

13 Yes, ma'am, that is correct. 

14 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

Q. Do you have C-14A? 

A. I do, sir. 

15 

16 

17 Q. So this is your letter and to summarize, it says 

18 you are investigating Worldwide Aircraft for a 

19 hot-line complaint? 

20 A. That is not quite exactly correct, no, sir. 

21 letter was my independent investigation based upon 

22 manual procedures not being followed by the 

This 

23 Certificate holder. It just happened to coincide with 

24 the investigation that was being done by the hot-line 

25 complaint. 

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1 Q. So could you elaborate what investigation did you 

2 do from July 7th on? 

3 A. Yes, I could. As a result of my understanding of 

4 the hot-line complaint and as the Principle Inspector 

5 for Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc., it came to my 

6 attention that through this activity procedures ln the 

7 manual were not being followed, and I initiated my own 

8 investigation and my own EIR, an enforcement action, 

9 based on the company not following their manual 

10 procedures. 

11 Q. Okay. So your investigation was in reference to 

12 the following of the manual? 

13 

14 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir. 

Not to the damage, the alleged damage, or the 

15 alleged taking off of an aircraft with the ground 

16 power attachment hooked to it? 

17 A. My investigation, sir, was in reference to the 

18 company following manual procedures of which a 

19 maintenance discrepancy not recorded and the Operator 

20 not requiring their employees knowingly to follow 

21 those manual procedures, yes, sir. 

22 Q. And then -- so you did no investigation on any of 

23 the incident of the hot-line complaint in reference to 

24 the aircraft allegedly departing with the GPU attached 

25 to it? 

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1 A. It was contributory to my -- had that not 

2 occurred, the not following of manual procedures, 

3 would not have been applicable. So in the case of 

4 that it was the event or required --

5 Q. I don't mean to interrupt you, but yes or no. 

6 Did you do any investigation, referenced the hot-line 

7 complaint of the aircraft allegedly departing with the 

8 GPU attached to it, did you do any investigation that 

9 referenced that? 

10 A. No, sir, I did not. 

11 Q. You did not? 

12 A. No. 

13 Q. And it is your statement that your investigation 

14 was around the company's personnel not following 

15 company policy? 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

Okay. Mr. Fanning testified earlier that you 

18 requested him to give you a statement referencing 

19 that, were you at JET I.C.U. on June 16, 2009? 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. VINES: Judge, I would object to 

the characterization of Mr. Fanning's testimony. 

I recall Mr. Fanning's testimony to be that he 

asked, excuse me, Inspector Kahler asked Mr. 

Fanning to provide a second statement regarding 

the damage to the aircraft, not regard to the 

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1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

aircraft taking off with the GPU attached. 

THE COURT: Okay. I'm going to sustain 

the objection on the form of the question. I 

think there was a compound nature that I found 

difficult to follow. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

THE COURT: So I'll sustain the 

objection on the form of the question. 

I'll ask you to break that up a little 

bit better. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

12 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

13 Q. Well I'll start, Mr. Kahler, were you at JET 

14 I.C.U. on June 16, 2009? 

15 

16 

A. 

Q. 

I can't recall. 

Would that information be at the FSDO, would you 

17 have to sign out and log out and log in if you were to 

18 leave the FSDO? 

19 

20 

A. 

Q. 

No, sir. 

So you can come and go freely, you don't have to 

21 log in when you are on duty? 

22 

23 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, that's correct. I can go freely. 

Okay. It is your testimony that you did not ask 

24 Brian Fanning to write a letter referencing his 

25 knowledge of any damage alleged to N90LJ? 

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1 A. It is my recollection that I did not ask him 

2 directly for any statements. I asked you for the 

3 statements to provide them to us, if any. 

4 Q. In your letter dated June 7th -- didn't JET 

5 I.C.U. and Worldwide Aircraft and myself comply with 

6 your requests? 

7 A. You gave me the documents that I had enclosed as 

8 items approved in my enforcement case. They either 

9 carne from you or they carne from the hot-line complaint 

10 conducted in my office. 

11 Q. So will you agree with me that the letter dated 

12 July 7th doesn't request specific documents as example 

13 MX-02? 

14 

15 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir, that's correct. 

Okay. And again, your background, Mr. Kahler, is 

16 an aviation pilot, correct, you are not an authorized 

17 power plant or an airframe mechanic? 

18 A. I don't hold an Airframe or Power-Plant 

19 Certificate. That is correct. 

20 Q. 

21 well? 

22 

23 

A. 

Q. 

And no Inspector Airworthiness Certificate as 

No, sir, I do not. 

Therefore, you are not authorized to work on an 

24 aircraft in maintenance capacity? 

25 A. That's correct, sir. 

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1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

Q. Not been trained to do that? 

A. I have not. 

Q. All right. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I think that's it, your 

Honor. 

THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Honeycutt. 

Mr. Vines, do you any redirect based on 

the cross? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

- - -

REDIRECT EXAMINATION 

BY MR. VINES: 

Q. Mr. Kahler, do you hold any FAA Certificates? 

A. I do, sir. 

Q. What certificates? 

A. I hold Airline Transport Pilot Rating. I possess 

18 a Ground Instructor Rating, Flight Instructor Rating, 

19 an Instrument Rating, and a Helicopter Rating. 

20 Q. And do you have any idea as to how many hours you 

21 have in your file as to how many hours you have 

22 operating an aircraft or helicopter? 

23 

24 

25 

A. In the excess of 8,000 hours. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

2 Q. I want to show you what's been marked as C-12. 

3 Do you recognize this document? 

4 

5 

6 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I do. 

How do you recognize this document? 

This was another item document I obtained from 

7 Mr. Schaefer's hot-line investigation. 

8 

9 

Q. 

A. 

And what is this document? 

This document is an e-mail from Mr. Kurt Handing 

10 who is an AP. According to his statement below his 

11 signature it describes, in narrative form, the support 

12 to document C-11. 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I move to 

strike that testimony. He has no knowledge of 

what Mr. Kurt Handing has done, his credentials 

or even this piece of paper. 

THE COURT: There's been a motion to 

strike on the grounds that this is beyond the 

witness' knowledge, and I would simply also 

indicate some concern since it appears to be far 

beyond the scope of cross. 

Do you have a comment or response? 

MR. VINES: As I would argue, Judge, to 

the first part through testimony, expected 

testimony, I suspect that the inspector will 

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testify that this is a document he used and 

included as part of his EIR. 

I would also argue, as far as to the 

second part, that Mr. Honeycutt did ask the 

inspector about his credentials regarding his 

ability to maintain aircraft by way of asking the 

inspector if he holds an AP. 

I would also argue, Judge, that the 

inspector relied upon other experts or other 

individuals who maintain those certificates in 

formulating the inspector's conclusions as far as 

if there was any violation with the FAA 

Regulations. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Can you tell me what the last question 

was; do you have the ability to do that? 

(Whereupon, the last question was read back by 

the court reporter.) 

THE COURT: Your objection is noted and 

respectfully overruled. I think this is within 

the scope of this witness' ability to basically 

identify what this document is and how he used 

it. 

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I'm not so persuaded that it is within 

the scope of cross, but in essence, the cure for 

that would be for Mr. Vines to ask to reopen his 

direct, and I would allow that because this 

witness has never left the stand. 

So I am going to overrule your 

objection. I will allow the question, and the 

question was, what is this document. 

THE WITNESS: This document is a e-mail 

10 to Frank Schaefer from Kurt Handing. 

11 BY MR. VINES: 

12 Q. And is this document -- do you consider this 

13 document as part of your enforcement-investigative 

14 process? 

15 

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A. 

Q. 

Do I have all of the items of proof in my EIR? 

Is there any document that would refresh your 

17 recollection as to whether or not you utilized that 

18 particular document in your EIR? 

19 A. I do not see an item of proof stamp on the back 

20 of the document which would have been a requirement to 

21 put in my EIR to account for them where as all these 

22 other documents I see my item of proof stamp on the 

23 back. Do I not have the original? 

24 Q. Let me ask you this, Inspector, would you be able 

25 to refresh your recollection if you see the exact copy 

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1 that you included in your EIR, a copy of this e-mail 

2 that you included in your EIR which may or may not 

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THE COURT: Well, that's speculative, 

Counsel. I think that if you have a copy of it, 

show it to him. If you don't, then let's move 

on. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I request 

that if counsel is going to pull the EIR, to 

submit the whole EIR because I have not had this 

document. Therefore, if he is going to use the 

EIR, use it in whole. 

THE COURT: So noted. I appreciate 

that request. The request is respectfully 

denied. 

He can choose what to use or what not 

to use, but he must certainly show you a copy of 

what he is going to show this witness. 

To that extent, I will grant your 

request to seal. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: The complete document? 

THE COURT: No, just the material that 

he wants this witness to review. 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I would 

just object to the document that I've never seen 

this before. 

THE COURT: Well, so far I haven't 

heard anything about it. I'm going to need to 

hear some testimony about it before I hear your 

objection and the basis for it. 

Mr. Vines, would you care to approach 

this witness with the document you have in hand? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

11 BY MR. VINES: 

12 Q. Inspector, I'm going to show you what's been 

13 marked for identification purposes as C -- I want to 

14 approach and show this witness what's been marked as 

15 Exhibit C-20. If you will, please take a chance to 

16 review that document, please. Have you had the 

17 occasion to review the document that's been marked as 

18 C-20? 

19 A. I have. 

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21 

Q. Okay. After having viewed the document that's 

been marked as Exhibit C-20, are you able to do you 

22 recall whether or not you utilized the document that's 

23 been marked as C-12 as part of your 

24 enforcement-investigative report? 

25 A. Yes, this is duplicate of C-12. 

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1 Q. What bearing, if any, does Exhibit C-12 have on 

2 your conclusion that you stated earlier that the 

3 Respondent observed a failure in the aircraft skin but 

4 did not document that issue? 

5 A. What these two documents, C-11 and C-12 

6 demonstrate --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, your Honor, 

he is going beyond the scope. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection. 

It is sustained. 

This witness has been asked to talk 

only in terms of Exhibit C-12. If you can't form 

an opinion based on the frame work of the 

question, say so. If you can answer the 

question, please do so. 

THE WITNESS: C-12 is a narrative to 

17 the repairs of an aircraft prepared by Kurt 

18 Handing. 

19 BY MR. VINES: 

20 Q. Did you utilize that document as part of your 

21 investigative report? 

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A. Yes, it is --

MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection. 

THE COURT: What is the objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: It is irrelevant to the 

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document and to the case. 

THE COURT: Any response? 

MR. VINES: I would argue that it is 

relevant, Judge. The Administrator has to show 

that damage has occurred. If you note on this 

document that there was some type of repair or 

maintenance, something was done to this aircraft. 

THE COURT: Well, it has been admitted 

before the Court. I am still taking testimony 

about it. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

So far I have a statement from the 

witness that there is a narrative of repairs by a 

Kurt Handing and that is was helpful in his 

investigation. I don't know much more than that. 

So your objection, Mr. Honeycutt, is 

that it is not relevant to these proceedings? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I would object, your 

Honor, that again counsel is trying to have the 

witness come to the conclusion by this entry that 

there was damage done to the aircraft. 

THE COURT: Why is that unacceptable? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: At the end of the day, 

Mr. Kahler, in his own testimony said that this 

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is a written statement from Kurt Harding (sic) 

about work done on the aircraft, not about damage 

to the aircraft, only that Kurt Harding (sic) 

wrote this and said that this is work that he did 

to this aircraft in particular. 

THE COURT: I see. So you are 

objecting more to the form of the question as 

opposed to what potentially this witness will 

testify to? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Any response? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Your objection is 

noted and respectfully overruled. We've had 

testimony earlier today before our noon recess 

from this witness that he believed that the 

aircraft was damaged. He described it in 

multiple terms including the malfunction, a lack 

of service ability, and so forth. 

That is one of the key disputes between 

the parties in this matter. I think we're going 

to hear Mr. Vines repeatedly ask about damage 

because that is his position. 

You are certainly welcome to 

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cross~examine this witness about that position, 

as well as to raise other concerns about that 

position in your own case in chief, but at this 

point, I'm going to allow Mr. Vines to refer to 

the repair in the terms that he and his witness 

have established by the evidence that they have 

utilized already. So your objection is noted and 

respectfully overruled. 

I'll simply note I understand that 

there's a dispute on whether or not it is actual 

damage or whether there has been a 

misunderstanding, misperception, or 

mischaracterization by the FAA regarding that. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. That is the 

case, your Honor, with respect, it does not say 

repaired, it says was installed. 

THE COURT: Once again, this is not 

evidence that is before the Court yet because 

there has been no motion to admit. 

So I need to hear a little bit more 

from this witness, and it may be that the 

government won't move to admit it. I don't know 

at this point 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

THE COURT: but I thank you, and 

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I'll overrule the objection at this point. 

Madam court reporter, what was the last 

question, please? 

(Whereupon, the last question was read back by 

the court reporter.) 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Mr. Vines, you may continue. 

10 BY MR. VINES: 

11 Q. Why did you consider this e-mail that's contained 

12 in Exhibit C-12? 

13 A. It demonstrates repair done to this particular 

14 aircraft in direct correlation to the kinds of 

15 unserviceable noted on this aircraft in our previous 

16 statements of June 4th or 5th. 

17 Q. And the previous statement that you refer to is 

18 June 5th, what are you referring to? 

19 A. I'm referring to the statement to Mr. Donahue 

20 from the pilot that an APU receptacle was 

21 unserviceable. I'm referring to the interview 

22 statement by Mr. Donahue that an occurrence happened 

23 with regards to the GPU --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Move to strike that the 

testimony is based on mischaracterization. 

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THE COURT: I'm sorry, what? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Based on 

mischaracterization. 

THE COURT: I'm not quite sure I 

understand what you are talking about. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Could you have the 

court reporter read back what he was just 

stating? 

THE COURT: Well, before you do that, 

can you just generally tell me what your 

objection is, what are you talking about 

mischaracterization? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Mr. Plas, in his 

statement, he is referencing Mr. Plas' statement 

of June 4th. Mr. Plas doesn't state or say that 

it was unserviceable or nonfunctional. Mr. 

Kahler is trying to insert that in and that's 

what I'm objecting to. 

THE COURT: Okay. I'm going to so note 

your objection. This is really more a subject of 

cross-examination where you cross-examine the 

witness about conclusions, inferences, or 

testimony that they've made that you don't 

believe is well founded. So I will overrule the 

objection. 

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BY 

Q. 

And, Mr. Witness, if you are utilizing 

exhibits, I would like you to identify them by 

exhibit number as you are referring to them 

THE WITNESS: Yes, your Honor. 

THE COURT: -- so that we have a clean 

record. When you say you utilize the statement 

of Mr. Plas, what exhibit number are you looking 

at? 

THE WITNESS: Exhibit C-9, your Honor, 

in the middle Mr. Plas says --

THE COURT: You don't need to go beyond 

that. Thank you. 

Mr. Vines, anything else that you would 

like to talk about with this witness? 

MR. VINES: Nothing further, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

MR. VINES: I'm sorry, Judge. 

MR. VINES: 

So you obviously felt this document was relevant 

20 to your investigation, correct? 

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THE COURT: When you say this document, 

Counsel, could you identify it by the exhibit 

number? 

MR. VINES: C-12. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

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Q. 

A. 

Is that correct? 

Yes, I included it in my report. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, at this time, 

the Administrator would move to admit Exhibit 

C-12 into evidence. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I object to the 

admittance of C-12, your Honor. 

THE COURT: On what basis? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: That it is basically 

hearsay. I can't cross-examine Mr. Schaefer or 

Mr. Handing to the extent of this statement. 

THE COURT: Hearsay is specifically 

allowed in these proceedings as you probably 

know. The Court must look at whether or not it 

has some reliability in terms of admissibility, 

and then the Court then must rule whether or not 

the hearsay should be considered and, if so, how 

the hearsay should be considered. 

This particular document was provided 

to you prior to today's date and time. Other 

than a hearsay objection, do you have any other 

objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, it was 

provided to me on a prior date, but also 

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Mr. Schaefer was a listed witness, therefore I 

could cross-examine Mr. Schaefer on this 

particular document and Mr. Handing as well as a 

potential witness for the government. 

They do not have that witness, 

therefore I am not allowed to cross-examine. 

Therefore I feel that the document should not be 

allowed to be entered into. 

THE COURT: Okay. I'm going to 

overrule your objection, and I'm going to admit 

Exhibit C-12. 

(Whereupon, the document was marked as C-12 

for identification and admitted into 

evidence.) 

THE COURT: You're welcome to 

cross-examine this witness about this particular 

document. You are also welcomed to utilize this 

document in your own examination of witnesses, 

and you are welcome to make an argument to the 

Court of its relative relevance. 

For example, if there is no particular 

nexus between this document and the aircraft, 

that is something to be addressed in argument or 

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in your own case in chief. If Mr. Handing is not 

someone who you know or worked with or whoever 

worked on the aircraft, again you can raise those 

kinds of things in your own case, but this 

witness has testified that he utilized it as part 

of his investigative process in reaching some 

conclusions, and it is relevant for that purpose. 

Mr. Vines, do you have any other 

testimony you want to elicit from this witness on 

your redirect? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge. 

THE COURT: Okay. Given the fact that 

the scope of redirect far out exceeded the scope 

of cross, Mr. Honeycutt, do you have any 

cross-examination that you would like to raise at 

this time with Mr. Kahler regarding Exhibit C-12? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Can I have a moment, 

your Honor? 

THE COURT: Sure. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I do. 

21 - - - - -

22 RECROSS-EXAMINATION 

23 - - - - -

24 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

25 Q. I would ask, Mr. Kahler, did you have any 

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1 direct did you see the aircraft damaged, did you 

2 happen to see a bent plug, damaged skin? 

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A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, sir, I did. 

You saw damage? 

At your location, after the fact, I had the 

6 chance with you to look at the airplane once and saw a 

7 small tear in the skin. You and I looked at it and 

8 discussed it once on the ramp after the fact. 

9 Q. That is referencing this incident or another 

10 incident? 

11 A. It was this tail-numbered airplane. At the time, 

12 I am certain that you and I discussed it in the 

13 reference that it was the aircraft in question. 

14 Q. But we can't confirm -- well I don't have that 

15 recollection that 

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A. Well, it is my recollection. 

THE COURT: You are not testifying 

right now. You might want to ask Mr. Kahler 

19 about when that occurred. 

20 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

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Q. 

A. 

Do you have that date, Mr. Kahler? 

No, sir, I do not have a date. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I have nothing further, 

your Honor. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

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Mr. Kahler, thank you very much for 

your testimony. It appears to be complete. Any 

exhibits that you have, please just leave them on 

the witness chair. You are done for the day and 

are hereby excused. 

THE WITNESS: Thank you, your honor. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, I would like to 

ask the Court that Inspector Kahler be excused 

THE COURT: He is excused. 

MR. VINES: for the remainder of the 

trial, Judge. 

THE COURT: Yes, it is my understanding 

that he is your only witness. 

Did you subpoena Mr. Kahler? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I didn't. 

THE COURT: Was there any other 

question you needed to ask Mr. Kahler during 

cross? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: The only other question 

I would ask Mr. Kahler is, did he have an 

opportunity to make a note of this, what we were 

just speaking, about the tear in the skin. 

THE COURT: Well, before you turn to 

him, you want to turn to me. So essentially, let 

me take a look at your witnesses, Mr. Honeycutt, 

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just to be on the safe side. 

You have listed Mr. Kahler as your own 

witness. I take it you did not talk with him 

prior to today about appearing on your case? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: That is correct, your 

Honor, I did not. 

THE COURT: Okay. So if he leaves 

today, are you satisfied that you have asked him 

every question that you would like to? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I am satisfied with the 

testimony that Mr. Kahler has given. 

THE COURT: Because if you haven't 

reached an agreement with him that he return and 

you haven't served him with a subpoena, I cannot 

compel him to stay. 

So I just want to make sure that while 

he is here, if there is something else that we 

can elicit from him, that we do take care of 

that. It looks like the cross-examination, I'm 

sorry, the scope of direct was fairly 

comprehensive. 

Do you want to take a minute to just 

think about it before Mr. Kahler leaves? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. Can I just 

have a moment? 

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THE COURT: Sure. 

Mr. Kahler, if you can just sit or 

stand in the jury box for a moment. 

THE WITNESS: Yes, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Do you want to take a 

five-minute recess? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor. 

THE COURT: All right. We'll take a 

five-minute recess. 

We can go off the record. 

(Whereupon, a brief recess was taken.) 

THE COURT: We're back on the record in 

the matter of Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. 

This is Docket No. FAA-2013-0045. 

We've reconvened after a second 

afternoon recess. All parties previously 

identified have returned to the courtroom. Mr. 

Kahler is still available to us. 

Mr. Honeycutt, any other questions that 

you need to pose to Mr. Kahler? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. I'm done 

with this witness. 

THE COURT: Mr. Kahler, thank you for 

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your patience in waiting. You're hereby excused. 

Have a good rest of the week. 

THE WITNESS: Thank you, your Honor. 

THE COURT: You're welcome. 

Mr. Vines, who would you like to call 

as your next witness? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: The Administrator calls 

Bob Donahue. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Before you sit down, could you raise 

your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth 

and nothing but the truth in this proceeding? 

THE WITNESS: Yes, I do. 

ROBERT DONAHUE, after having been duly 

sworn, was examined and testified as follows: 

THE COURT: Please take a seat. 

THE WITNESS: Thank you. 

THE COURT: When you are comfortable, 

please state your name and spell your last name 

for the record. 

THE WITNESS: Robert Donahue, last name 

is spelled D-0-N-A-H-U-E. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

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1 Mr. Vines, you may inquire. 

2 - - -

3 DIRECT EXAMINATION 

4 - - - - -

5 BY MR. VINES: 

6 Q. Good afternoon, Inspector Donahue. Inspector, 

7 where are you currently employed? 

8 A. At the Tampa West Standard District Office 

9 located at 5601 Mariner Street, Tampa. 

10 

11 

12 

13 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

And that is apart of the FAA; is that correct? 

That is correct. That is our field office. 

And what is your current title? 

I am a Principle Operation Safety Inspector 

14 referred to as an Aviation Safety Inspector. 

15 Responsibilities are that I oversight on-demand air 

16 carriers that provide service to the public flying an 

17 aircraft for charter. 

18 Q. And by on demand and air carrier, you are 

19 referring to Part 135 Operations? 

20 A. Part 135 where they do not have structured 

21 routes. They are on call, come up like the retainer 

22 services to flight destinations throughout the United 

23 States for the world. 

24 Q. Also as a Principle Operations Inspector or 

25 Aviation Safety Inspector, I'll refer to the latter of 

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1 Aviation Safety Inspector, ASI, Principle Operations 

2 Inspector, POI, do you have any other duties besides 

3 overseeing Part 135 Carriers? 

4 A. The titles that I'm responsible for involves the 

5 direct oversight of the Operators that I've mentioned 

6 to ensure regulatory compliance, knowledge of pilots 

7 to ensure that they've met minimum standards to 

8 operate under the appropriate ratings which they hold. 

9 We ensure that the Operators themselves function 

10 within the legal ramifications, both guidance of what 

11 we have, the 8900 Order and the Federal Aviation 

12 Regulations in Part 135. 

13 

14 

Q. 

A. 

You mentioned the 8900 Order, what is that? 

The FAA Order 8900 or .1 is the FAA's guidance 

15 that we work internal for the structure of our 

16 operations. It provides us more intricate, definitive 

17 guidance, of what we do during the inspections of not 

18 only the pilots, but the requirements of the 

19 individual companies, how they are structured, all the 

20 way down to the requirements of what constitute of 

21 records that they must keep. It is a more definitive 

22 guidance for us to operate under. 

23 Q. In light of overseeing Part 135 Operators, are 

24 you familiar with Part 135 Aviation Regulations? 

25 A. Yes, I am. 

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1 Q. And what specifically do those regulations 

2 address? 

3 A. The Aviation Regulations under Title 14, Code of 

4 Federal Aviation Regulations Part 135, it gives us the 

5 basic guidance along with the associate regulations, 

6 Part 61 for pilots and Part 119 for management 

7 structures that these agencies must maintain. 

8 The 119 provides guidance specific to the 

9 experience levels and so forth for the command 

10 structure from the Director of Operations and chief 

11 pilots down to the other issues of economic 

12 authorities and so forth. 

13 A Part 135 is the basic operating rule that these 

14 people have to comply with that establishes the direct 

15 guidance for aviation maintenance required on the 

16 aircrafts, the pilots, flight-time duty. Basically 

17 the complete blueprint that the individual operators 

18 must uphold to so that they can be a safe operator 

19 flying in the skies. 

20 Q. Do the Part 135 Regulations also cover 

21 air-worthiness issues, as well as any documents or 

22 manuals that the Part 135 Operators have to maintain? 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

That is correct. 

How long have you been an ASI and POI? 

I've been a total of 18 years within the Federal 

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1 Aviation Administration Ranks. The first year I was 

2 basically an introductory time where I gained the 

3 experience. After one year, for somebody that has 

4 tote the ropes pretty tightly, they receive what they 

5 called the Principle Operations Inspector. 

6 That status provides an opportunity for me to 

7 directly oversight Operators independently, to use my 

8 judgment, to follow the guidance that is appropriate, 

9 and to surveil the Operators to ensure their 

10 compliance, along with other collateral investigations 

11 duties, which we would be accident investigations and 

12 a lot of pilot deviations. Basically anything having 

13 to do with the ground from the ground up. 

14 Q. When you began working with the FAA, were you 

15 assigned as a POI approximately 18 years ago? 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, I was. 

So for the past 18 years, you have been a POI to 

18 Part 135 Certificate holders? 

19 

20 

A. 

Q. 

That's correct. 

And do you currently oversee any Part 135 

21 Operators? 

22 

23 

24 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I do. 

Approximately how many? 

135 Operations basically fall on two channels, 

25 nine or less aircrafts, that constitutes a small 

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1 operator. Large operators are 10 seats or more, which 

2 would normally be a Gulf stream of four or five, any 

3 aircraft that is pretty large in scope. 

4 The more experienced pilots are the inspectors, 

5 such as myself, normally get the larger operators, as 

6 well as the small, and I manage both, large and small 

7 as it comes to regulatory and other guidance. 

8 Q. Do you oversee any other, any other Certificate 

9 holders that are not certificated to operate under 

10 Part 135? 

11 A. I do. I operate oversight Part 137, Agricultural 

12 Spray Operations, Part 133, External Operations, and 

13 Part 141, Flight Schools. 

14 Q. And you said-- you mentioned Part 137, what is 

15 that? 

16 A. Agricultural Spray Operations are where they use 

17 an aircraft like a helicopter or fixed wing that would 

18 spray agriculturally chemicals to control mosquito 

19 spray or any other kind of disbursements. 

20 Q. And are you able to testify as to on average how 

21 many Part 135 Operators you are responsible for at a 

22 given time? 

23 A. Yes, we are assigned operators. That is done 

24 formally by complexity lists. Currently I am with, I 

25 believe three Operators Part 135. 

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1 Q. Are you able to testify as to an average of how 

2 many per year you would oversee, how many Part 135 

3 Operators you would oversee? 

4 A. I can give you the maximum that I've done and the 

5 minimums. Right now the stretch I have is on the 

6 light side number. 

7 When I was up in the Chicago area, Great Lakes 

8 Region, I carried an average of six to seven Part 135, 

9 two to three Part 133, three 137, and one or two Part 

10 141 Schools. That was my load for surveillance in the 

11 other office in Chicago. 

12 Q. By working with the FAA, have you received any 

13 training on the Part 135 Regulations? 

14 

15 

16 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes. 

What training have you received? 

We have a current level introductory training as 

17 a new inspector, and we have recurrent course that are 

18 done every three years normally or earlier. We 

19 sometimes have advance courses that we take when 

20 offered to us. 

21 We can go down and receive that training both 

22 online, which is computer-based training or we go to 

23 Oklahoma City's main FAA's Training Facility and we 

24 receive this type of specialized training. 

25 Q. Have you, in fact, received that training? 

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1 

2 

A. 

Q. 

I have indeed. 

Prior to working for the FAA, where were you 

3 employed? 

4 A. I was flying the Gulf-Coast Arena, flying the 

5 Offshore-Oil Platforms, and in addition to that, I 

6 flew External-Load Operations on Part 133. I was 

7 flying in New Mexico, the United States, and some of 

8 Canada. 

9 Q. And with regard to the Oil Platform, do you 

10 recall the name of your employer? 

11 A. I had worked for a variety of operations. One 

12 was patrolling helicopters. I flew for an Alaskan 

13 Base Operation called ERA, subsidiary to Alaskan 

14 Airlines. I was, I'm sure it will come to me, but I 

15 finished the last threes years with them flying out of 

16 Morgan City. I'll think of the name here in a second. 

17 I can't think of it. 

18 Q. What, if any, law enforcement background do you 

19 have, if any? 

20 A. I have 14 years in the law enforcement 

21 background, four years military police specialized in 

22 Terrorism operations. I was a line deputy and 

23 foreman, line supervisor as well, AWOL apprehensions, 

24 basic stuff like that. 

25 I was the Central Point of Command Coordinator 

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1 for the Forces Command in Europe to the Commanding 

2 General in Fort Lewis, Washington. Ten years of 

3 law-enforcement experience as a Deputy Sheriff. I was 

4 a line deputy when I was not flying in the Gulf. 

5 Q. When you say line deputy, what is that? 

6 A. I was in a patrol unit handling daily calls from 

7 accidents, thefts, burglaries, arson. 

8 

9 

10 

11 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Do you hold any FAA issued certificates? 

I do. 

What are they? 

An Airline Transport Pilot Certificate for a 

12 fixed wing (inaudible) in the jets 38,000-pound 

13 aircraft up to 16 passengers and a Citation JET, 

14 that's a nine passenger or less. I have an ATP in 

15 (inaudible) helicopters and commercially rated in an 

16 airplane single engine and sequence. 

17 

18 

19 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Do you hold a Flight Instructor's Certificate? 

I do. 

Do you have any ratings associated with that 

20 certificate? 

21 A. Airplane single engine, multi engine, and 

22 instrument. 

23 Q. About how many hours do you have operating an 

24 aircraft? 

25 A. In excess of 15,000 hours. 

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MR. VINES: Your Honor, at this time I 

would move to qualify Inspector Donahue as an 

expert in Part 135 Operations. 

THE COURT: Any objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. 

THE COURT: I have a question for you, 

sir. 

THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: You indicated that you have 

approximately a 17-year history working with the 

FAA as a Principle Operator Inspector for the --

THE WITNESS: That is correct. 

THE COURT: First year was an 

introductory year? 

THE WITNESS: That is correct. 

THE COURT: Is there another type of 

certification that you do not have in terms of 

Part 135 Operations or have you achieved all of 

the certifications that are offered by your 

employer at this point in time? 

THE WITNESS: That is correct. 

THE COURT: The motion to qualify this 

witness as an expert is granted. There has been 

no objection and the Court finds him to have the 

qualifications for expert status. 

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You may proceed. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, may I ask a 

question? 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, do you have 

a question of this witness regarding his 

expertise? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: It is in reference to 

your question as well, I believe. 

THE COURT: Sure. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Maybe Mr. Donahue could 

qualify. 

You don't hold an A and P --

THE COURT: I'm sorry, sir, you don't 

want to ask him a question until I grant you the 

opportunity. You have no objection, do you have 

an objection now? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm just confused on 

the grounds of his expertise. 

THE COURT: His expertise is on Part 

135 Aviation expertise. So not necessarily 

flight expertise, but over-sight expertise under 

Part 135 of the FAA Regulations. 

Does that make better sense to you? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Did you want to ask this 

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witness a qualifying question? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I can wait during my 

cross. 

THE COURT: Okay. Do you feel 

comfortable to what he's testified to in terms of 

his credentials as a Part 135 Inspector? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 

Mr. Vines, do you have any other 

questions to ask this witness? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

12 BY MR. VINES: 

13 Q. You are familiar with the Administrator's action 

14 against the Respondent, Worldwide Aircraft, currently 

15 which you are here for; is that a fair assumption to 

16 make? 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

A. 

Q. 

this 

A. 

Q. 

Yes, sir. 

Did you, in fact, conduct an investigation into 

matter? 

Yes. 

Let me ask you this, how did you become involved 

22 in this case? 

23 A. As an inspector in the office, part of our duties 

24 and responsibilities are responsible to investigate 

25 what we can say complaints, public complaints, either 

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1 anonymous or known personnel as part of our duties and 

2 responsibilities. 

3 The management of the Flight Standard office 

4 assigned me a complaint to work. It was with an 

5 anonymous complainant. I was asked to investigate the 

6 circumstances and conditions of an aircraft alleged to 

7 have taxied and had taken off at Brooksville Airport 

8 with a ground-power unit attached. That was the 

9 mission that I was given. 

10 Q. And based on that assignment, what did you do 

11 next? 

12 A. The basic research of the Operators. 

13 nothing about the Operators at the time. 

I knew 

I did a 

14 basic research on the alleged aircraft type, the size 

15 and scope of the ground-power units that may be 

16 involved so I would be able to see and understand more 

17 what I was looking for. 

18 I obtained services and requested a second 

19 inspector to accompany me. Inspector Frank Schaefer, 

20 he is an Air-Witness Inspector, that would provide 

21 insight to me on technical matters involving the 

22 aircraft. 

23 We arrived at the JET I.C.U. location at 

24 approximately 7:30 with Mr. Schaefer and myself. I 

25 believe Mr. Honeycutt, Sr. was there, and we waited 

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1 for Mr. Honeycutt, Jr. to arrive before we started the 

2 review into the situation. 

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THE COURT: I'm going to stop you, sir. 

I'm going to ask Mr. Vines to redirect 

you since you are engaged in a lengthy narrative 

that goes beyond the question. 

Mr. Vines, it would be helpful if you 

could identify this investigation by date, year, 

and if there are times involved such as 7:30, 

whether it is in the morning or the evening so I 

have a better understanding of what is happening. 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. May I approach 

the witness? 

THE COURT: You may. 

MR. VINES: Judge, on the stand there 

are several exhibits, and I would like to look 

through them to assist this witness. May I 

remove these exhibits? 

THE COURT: You may. Please just make 

sure, before the evening, that I have them all 

back. 

Mr. Vines, if you could just take them 

with you and perhaps your assistant could 

characterize them if you need them to be shuffled 

around, that would be helpful. 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

2 Q. I'm going to show you what's been marked as C-7A 

3 and C-7B. Do you recognize this document? 

4 

5 

6 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I do. 

How do you recognize this document? 

It is an inspector statement that I created, and 

7 I have my handwriting and initials in the lower 

8 left-hand corner on both pages. 

9 Q. You just stated your signature is on the bottom; 

10 is that correct? 

11 

12 

A. 

Q. 

That's correct. 

And the signatures at the bottom, are there other 

13 signatures besides your's? 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

No, sir. 

I reference you to page C-7B as in boy. 

Okay. 

Do you recognize this document? 

I do. 

How do you recognize this document? 

I recognize it by the signature that I have and 

21 two other signatures that I obtained on site. 

22 

23 

24 

25 

MR. VINES: At this time, the 

Administrator would move to enter C-7A and C-7B 

into evidence. 

THE COURT: Well I will reserve ruling 

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on that until the witness identifies the year and 

any other identification to this particular case. 

That would be helpful to see whether or not it 

should be admitted. 

You just pretend that I don't have a 

copy of this in front of me. We're doing this on 

the written record. So far this is a statement 

that he recognizes. He recognized the signature. 

He wrote it. 

What applicability does it have in this 

case; when did it occur? 

12 BY MR. VINES: 

13 Q. You said you signed this document earlier, what 

14 was the purpose of obtaining or preparing this 

15 document? 

16 A. This was a statement of facts that I used of the 

17 right of the days I recall of the (inaudible) I went 

18 down to investigate. The actual date of the event was 

19 listed on the top portion of May 3, 2009. The date of 

20 the statement I had taken on here was June 6, 2009. 

21 Q. And how does this report relate to the reason why 

22 we're here today? 

23 A. During the investigation certain events 

24 transpired. This document captured those items that I 

25 not only saw, witnessed or questions that I had asked 

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1 of the people I met. 

2 Q. And the event that you are investigating, is that 

3 designated at the top of the first page of the Exhibit 

4 C-7A as May 3, 2009? 

5 

6 

7 

8 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

That was the day of the alleged event. 

That was the event that you were investigating? 

May 3rd. 

And the date you prepared the statement is 

9 designated as what? 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

June 6th. 

2009? 

Yes. 

And again, that's on Exhibit C-7A? 

That's correct. 

MR. VINES: At this time, the 

Administrator would move to admit C-7A and B into 

evidence. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, do you have 

any objection? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: We do object because it 

is basically Mr. Donahue's testimony, and we want 

to hear Mr. Donahue's testimony. 

THE COURT: Your objection is noted. 

I'll reserve ruling until the witness is finished 

testifying on direct. You are welcome to a rule 

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1 at that time. 

2 Mr. Vines. 

3 BY MR. VINES: 

4 Q. Mr. Donahue, you stated earlier that you, in 

5 fact, prepared this statement; is that correct? 

6 

7 

A. 

Q. 

I did. 

Did you have any additional individuals attest to 

8 this statement? 

9 

10 

11 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I did. 

Who did you have attest to this statement? 

Mr. Schaefer accompanied me in all aspects of 

12 this investigation, and Mr. Honeycutt, Director of 

13 Operations, he verified the facts as presented by his 

14 own signature. 

15 Q. And Exhibit C-7A and Exhibit C-78, is that the 

16 original copy that has all the signatures on it? 

17 

18 

A. 

Q. 

It does. 

On Exhibit C-78, do you recall -- let me ask you 

19 this, how did you obtain Mr. Schaefer's signature? 

20 MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I object. 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

Are we going to have Mr. Donahue testify or are 

we going to have him testify to this document 

which you reserved your ruling on? 

THE COURT: Well, this is the direct of 

Mr. Vines. He can spend how he wishes his time 

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about this particular document. 

Are you saying that you don't have any 

objection to the document itself but to the 

content of the document, that's where you think 

that the dispute is? 

I think it might be helpful if you can 

give myself and Mr. Vines an idea of where your 

interest lies. Are you interested in hearing 

about the actual events or are you interested in 

receiving some additional information regarding 

the foundation of this document? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm confused as to why 

we're going over Mr. Donahue's statement when Mr. 

Donahue is here to testify on his account. 

THE COURT: I understand. Mr. Vines 

apparently sees fit in his case in chief to ask 

more questions about this, and that is his right. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 

THE COURT: I'll note your objection 

and overrule it. 

Mr. Vines, I will simply say that it 

does not appear to this court that there is a 

dispute that this statement was created and 

written by this witness. I think there is an 

interest by your friend across the isle to get 

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2 

3 

into the meat of things, but this is your time, 

and you can choose to use it as you wish. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

4 BY MR. VINES: 

5 Q. As I was asking you earlier, how did you obtain 

6 Mr. Frank Schaefer's signature? 

7 A. Mr. Schaefer works in our office. After the 

8 initial investigation was completed, we adjourned back 

9 to the office, and I created this statement a total of 

10 three days after the actual interview at the JET 

11 I.C.U. 's location. 

12 Mr. Frank Schaefer was offered the opportunity to 

13 read it, and if he contested to any of the facts that 

14 were disputed, that we would discuss those items. He 

15 did not have any problem with the statement as it was 

16 written, and he gave me the signature on that document 

17 along with mine. I then had to take that and provide 

18 Mr. Honeycutt an opportunity to verify the facts. 

19 

20 

21 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Did you observe Mr. Honeycutt sign the document? 

I did. 

And is that document an accurate representation 

22 of the document that you saw Mr. Honeycutt sign? 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

It is. 

Is that the exact same document? 

It is. 

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MR. VINES: At this time, the 

Administrator would move to admit C-7A and C-7B 

into evidence. 

THE COURT: Thank you. I've reserved 

ruling subject to getting into the meat of the 

matter. Are you planning to ask Mr. Donahue any 

other questions before you excuse him? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Then the motion is noted 

and respectfully reserved. You are welcome to 

reraise it at the conclusion of your case in 

chief of this witness. 

MR. VINES: Judge, I would like to have 

that admitted now, Judge, and resume for -- I 

think that it deserves admission into evidence 

because I do have Mr. Honeycutt who signed it, 

and by his signature, that does constitute his 

statement against interest with regard to JET 

I. c. u. So again, the Administrator would move to 

have this admitted into evidence at this time. 

THE COURT: Thank you. Same ruling. 

You may proceed. 

MR. VINES: Thank you, Judge. 

24 BY MR. VINES: 

25 Q. So, Inspector Donahue, you stated you went to JET 

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1 I.C.U. and met Mr. Honeycutt among some other 

2 individuals during your initial stage of the 

3 investigation; is that correct? 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I met with Mr. Mike Honeycutt, Jr. 

And do you recall when this occurred? 

Yes, sir, June 3rd. 

What was that meeting about in reference to? 

It was in regards to the allegations that I 

9 received on the complaint that I was investigating. 

10 Q. And what did you discuss -- when you refer to Mr. 

11 Honeycutt, who are you referring to? 

12 

13 

14 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Mike Jr. 

What was discussed? 

Basically the content of the complaint, being 

15 that an aircraft had taxied out onto the taxi way and 

16 down to the runway and departed with a ground-power 

17 unit attached. 

18 Q. And what, if any, response did Mr. Honeycutt 

19 provide to you? 

20 A. My direct question to him was, was there a flight 

21 that departed at that location in the date in 

22 question. His response was yes. He then proceeded to 

23 the position where he would like -- he wanted to know 

24 who the complainant was. 

25 I explained to him that it was an anonymous 

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1 complaint. He wanted to get a copy of the complaint. 

2 I explained to him that he needed to through the FORA 

3 process, which he could obtain the information that he 

4 desired. 

5 The questions then went further into the 

6 situation. Mike freely gave me information that he 

7 arrived prior to prepare the aircraft for departure. 

8 As it was an early departure for a.m., Mike explained 

9 that he positioned the aircraft, refueled the 

10 aircraft, attached the ground-power unit to the 

11 aircraft, and positioned everything for the pilots 

12 upon their arrival. 

13 Q. When you refer to the day before, are you 

14 referring to May 2nd? 

15 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes, sir, that would be correct. 

And what else did Mr. Honeycutt discuss? 

It kind of jumped from that question that he 

18 wanted to get the contents of the document. He went 

19 into the discussion that he did prepare the aircraft 

2 0 for flight. 

21 He moved right into the next comment that when he 

22 arrived the morning of the aircraft departure, I 

23 believe it was just around 7 a.m. in the morning, he 

24 had noticed that the ground-power unit was not in the 

25 position which he had left it the night before. He 

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1 quoted to me that he suspected that the pilots had 

2 taxied out with the ground-power unit attached. 

3 

4 

Q. 

A. 

What else was discussed? 

It got interesting from that point on. Mike 

5 quoted to me that the ground-power unit was attached 

6 to his truck. He attached it to his truck and then 

7 did Donuts on the Tarmac to destroy the ground-power 

8 unit. 

9 Upon the completion of the destroying of that 

10 unit, he stated that he took those parts, and placed 

11 them along the taxi way leading to the runway. He 

12 further qualified that by saying that he did not place 

13 any parts on the runway itself. 

14 Q. Did he explain why he attached the GPU to his 

15 truck and did Donuts on 

16 

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A. 

Q. 

A. 

He did. 

What did he say? 

He stated that he was having problems with pilots 

19 in preflight, and therefore he wanted to make an 

20 example. So he destroyed the GPU and blamed it on the 

21 pilots. He called the pilots and blamed and stated 

22 that they destroyed the ground-power unit. 

23 Q. Did Mr. Honeycutt tell you why he -- let me ask 

24 you this, did Mr. Honeycutt tell you that that's what, 

25 in fact, actually happened with the GPU unit? 

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1 A. He's stated that that's what happened, that he 

2 had attached it and destroyed it to prove a point to 

3 the pilots. 

4 Q. Did you do any investigation as to how the GP 

5 unit was destroyed? 

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A. 

Q. 

A. 

I did. 

And what did you do in that investigation? 

During the investigation, I talked to both of the 

9 pilots. The pilot in command was the primary pilot 

10 that was responsible for the safe conduct of the 

11 flight itself. The first officer with the No. 2 pilot 

12 was apparently new with the aircraft. 

13 During the start sequence as they arrived, I 

14 think they said 15 minutes late, they were behind 

15 schedule. 

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17 

Q. 

A. 

By they, who you are referring to? 

The pilots arrived late to departure. They were 

18 late getting out of the gate to go fly. That the 

19 first officer, the less experienced pilot, got into 

20 the left seat along with the Captain, Mr. Plas, and 

21 they were going to start the engines. 

22 Mr. Plas got out of the aircraft, walked around 

23 to the right, to the GPU, turned on the GPU by his 

24 statement, and then proceeded to the hanger where the 

25 GPU was tied to the primary electrical supply in the 

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1 hanger to start the engine. He returned upon the 

2 right side of the aircraft, got back into the cockpit 

3 and observed the start sequence on one engine. Upon 

4 the successful start of that engine --

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THE COURT: I'm going to stop you, sir. 

Mr. Honeycutt, I can hear you from 

here. So if you could lower your voice when you 

are consulting with Mr. Bowen, that would be 

helpful. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I was, your Honor. I 

apologize. Again, I was wanting to object to 

Mr. Donahue. I think the question that he asked 

is corning off 

THE COURT: So you are objecting to the 

continuing narration? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes. 

THE COURT: Your objection is noted and 

respectfully sustained. 

I'll stop you at this point, sir. 

THE WITNESS: Okay. 

THE COURT: All your testimony so far 

may stand, but, Mr. Vines, I'll ask you to direct 

your witness a little more (inaudible). Thank 

you. 

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1 BY MR. VINES: 

2 Q. You stated -- you were testifying about what 

3 Captain Plas told you; is that correct? 

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5 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

And you were at the point then in your testimony 

6 that Captain Plas instructed, told you that he --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, we've 

already went over Mr. Plas' testimony and 

admitted Mr. Plas, why do we need to go over with 

Mr. Donahue Mr. Plas' testimony? 

THE COURT: I think what I'm hearing 

from Mr. Vines is that he is recapping what Mr. 

Donahue has just said so that he can plant him, 

as it will, like a seed into the ground that has 

15 not yet been furrowed. 

16 So I will overrule your objection at 

17 this point with the understanding that Mr. Vines 

18 is simply placing Mr. Donahue back into testimony 

19 where he wants him to be. 

20 Mr. Vines. 

21 BY MR. VINES: 

22 Q. You left off, Inspector, where Mr. Plas was 

23 returning to the aircraft to get back into the 

24 cockpit; is that correct? 

25 A. Yes. 

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2 

Q. 

A. 

What else did Captain Plas tell you? 

That he got back in the aircraft, sealed the 

3 door, and the aircraft taxied out for the departure. 

4 Q. Did Captain Plas ever tell you what he thought 

5 happened with the GPU that was attached to this 

6 particular aircraft? 

7 

8 

A. 

Q. 

9 time? 

10 A. 

He did, but not at that time. 

What did Captain Plas tell you about at that 

Captain Plas told me in his statement that when 

11 he departed the initial location, Brooksville, he 

12 proceeded two additional stops and ended up in the 

13 Nassau area, the Bahamas, where he attempted to have 

14 the engines started using another ground-power unit. 

15 He was told by the ground personnel that they 

16 were unable to establish a viable connection with the 

17 (inaudible) unit to the ground-power terminal on the 

18 aircraft. He stated further at that point that he got 

19 out of the aircraft, walked back to the point on the 

20 left side of the aircraft and noticed that two of the 

21 terminals had been bent aft, and there was some skin 

22 damage to the aircraft. 

23 He quoted right after that and freely that he 

24 believed that he taxied out with the ground-power unit 

25 attached to the aircraft and took off. 

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1 Q. Now, did you have occasion to obtain this 

2 statement from Mr. Captain Plas? 

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A. I did. 

MR. VINES: May I approach, Judge? 

THE COURT: You may. 

6 BY MR. VINES: 

7 

8 

Q. I'm going to show you what's been marked and 

admitted as C-BA and e-BB. Do you recognize this 

9 document? 

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11 

12 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I do. 

How do you recognize this document? 

I recognize the document with Mr. Brandon Plas' 

13 signature and that this document was indeed addressed 

14 to me, and the content of the document corresponds 

15 with my investigation. 

16 Q. Did you have an occasion to independently -- did 

17 you have an occasion to interview Mr. Plas about the 

18 operation of N90LJ on May 3, 2009? 

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20 

A. 

Q. 

I did. 

Okay. And during that interview, did he reveal 

21 to you information as contained in this statement that 

22 is marked as Exhibit C-BA and C-BB? 

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A. 

Q. 

He did. 

Did he provide to you any additional information 

25 in your interview that is not included in his, by his 

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1 I mean Brandon P1as' statement, that is contained in 

2 Exhibit C-BA and B? 

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A. It did. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I object. 

THE COURT: There has been an objection 

on what grounds? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: That I don't have any 

information that Mr. Donahue interviewed Mr. 

Plas. All I have is Mr. Plas' statement and Mr. 

Plas' testimony and Mr. Donahue's testimony now. 

I don't have anything referencing that. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, there is an 

objection that you are going beyond the discovery 

that has been provided. Do you have a response? 

MR. VINES: Just that this particular 

testimony is permitted and that the Respondent 

didn't request, file any discovery. 

Again, Mr. Donahue is just simply 

stating what he uncovered in his investigation, 

which is a par for the course here, Judge. 

THE COURT: Well, I would appreciate 

your assertions to me that it is done all the 

time and is permitted. I am not quite sure I 

would agree with you with those global 

statements. 

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There has been an exchange of 

information between the parties, at least through 

the witness list and witness exhibits, that 

occurred prior to this trial starting. 

Can you make an offer of proof as to 

why this additional information that you're 

seeking to elicit from Inspector Donahue has any 

particular meaning in terms of proving your case 

in chief? 

MR. 

information. 

THE 

proof? 

MR. 

THE 

VINES: 

COURT: 

VINES: 

COURT: 

Judge, I don't have that 

You don't have an offer of 

Not at this time, Judge. 

The objection is noted and 

respectfully sustained. Do you have other 

17 questions that you would like to ask this 

18 witness? 

19 BY MR. VINES: 

20 Q. In your conversations that you had with Mr. Plas, 

21 did it in any way conflict with the statement he 

22 provided to you that has been marked as Exhibit C-8A 

23 and C-88? 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Objection, your Honor. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection. 

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I take it, Mr. Vines, that you have no 

other offer of proof to make about this line of 

inquiry? 

MR. VINES: Other than the purpose of 

the question, Judge, is to validate the 

statement, the truth of the statement, the 

veracity of the statement, and whether or not it 

is reliable, Judge. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, if I may. 

THE COURT: You may not. I don't need 

any further argument from the Respondent. 

I will simply note that there has been 

no offer of proof regarding this particular line 

of inquiry. 

Part of the process of a trial is to 

provide equal footing for all parties who come 

before the Court. If there is no particular 

offer of proof as to how this will help make the 

case or whether it is necessary to meet the needs 

of the prima fascia case, I'm going to sustain 

the objection again, particularly because this is 

not information that has been shared in any way 

with the Respondent. The answer that was just 

provided is hereby stricken. 

Do you have any other questions to ask 

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this witness? 

THE WITNESS: Excuse me, may I ask a 

question to you, Judge? 

THE COURT: No, you may not, but thank 

you. 

THE WITNESS: It was for a matter of 

order. I was wondering if I had an opportunity 

to discuss an issue with the FAA's attorney? 

THE COURT: You do not. 

Mr. Vines, do you have any questions to 

ask this witness? 

MR. VINES: Judge, I just want to 

confirm the answer that you struck is what 

answer? 

THE COURT: Yes, you were basically 

asking this witness to testify about another 

conversation dated, related to the information 

that formed the basis of his investigation that 

being C-8A and B. There was an objection from 

the Respondent because of the lack of prior 

disclosure. 

I granted that objection twice, and I'm 

going to ask you now to see whether or not you 

have other questions to ask this witness. 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge, I do. I'm 

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sorry, if I could have the Court's indulgence. 

THE COURT: Of course. 

3 BY MR. VINES: 

4 Q. Inspector, after receiving Mr. Plas' statement --

5 let me rephrase, I'm sorry. After receiving Captain 

6 Plas' written statement, what, if anything, did you do 

7 in response to receiving that statement? 

8 A. I requested that he place this in writing so that 

9 I would have a statement of facts from his side to 

10 represent his view. 

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12 

13 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

And that's documents C-8A and C-88? 

Yes, sir. 

In your conversation with Mr. Captain Plas, did 

14 you discuss or ask him about whether or not about the 

15 issue -- did you discuss with Mr. Plas on whether or 

16 not he contacted his company, his employer, Worldwide 

17 Aircraft, after learning of the bent prongs on the GPU 

18 receptacle? 

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20 

21 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes. 

And what did he tell you? 

He stated that he had contacted Michael 

22 Honeycutt, Jr. and explained to him the damage that he 

23 had found on the fuselage receptacle, that the pins 

24 were bent, and it is a matter of skin damage. 

25 He asked what he should do, and he claimed to me 

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1 that he was instructed to use his own judgment as to 

2 how he handles the situation. 

3 Q. Did Mr. Plas inform you as to who he was 

4 discussing the bent prongs with? 

5 

6 

A. 

Q. 

He sad Mike Honeycutt. 

And did Mr. Plas indicate to you whether or not 

7 he documented the bent prongs in the 

8 aircraft-maintenance logbook or on an 

9 aircraft-discrepancy form? 

10 A. He stated that he did not make a logbook entry 

11 because it was not, in his opinion, a safety of 

12 flight. 

13 MR. HONEYCUTT: Again, your Honor, I 

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believe that we're beyond the scope. We have Mr. 

Plas' statement. We don't have this additional 

testimony that Mr. Donahue is presenting for Mr. 

Plas. 

THE COURT: Well, first and foremost, I 

think that we have a statement that has not been 

admitted. So I'm in the process of obtaining 

testimony through direct about what this witness 

knew or didn't know. 

As I understand it, your question or 

your objection is based on when this interview 

occurred as opposed to what was said, can you be 

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a little more specific? 

You are saying that you think this 

particular testimony did not occur prior to this 

admission to this witness of Exhibit C-8? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Correct, your Honor. 

don't believe -- I'm not sure when this 

questioning of Mr. Plas occurred. 

He testified that he interviewed Mr. 

Plas and then asked him to write a written 

statement for the record. We have Mr. Plas' 

statement and nowhere in it does he say in there 

a reference of damage or anything else. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Mr. Vines, do you have any response to 

the objection? 

MR. VINES: I think the objection is 

distinct from the issue here. The issue here is 

what conversation the inspector had with Mr. 

Plas, and that's what I'm asking about. 

I 

Mr. Plas was employed with the company. 

We're trying to investigate Mr. Plas' 

observations, his findings, his actions which are 

relevant to the complaint in this case. So I 

would argue that this testimony I am trying to 

elicit from Inspector Donahue is on point with 

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the material facts of this case. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Inspector Donahue, as I understand it, 

your testimony so far has been regarding the 

investigation and interview you had with Mr. Plas 

prior to his submission of the June 8, 2009 

letter identified as C-8A and B? 

THE WITNESS: That is correct, your 

Honor. 

THE COURT: So noted. 

Your objection, Mr. Honeycutt, is 

respectfully overruled. This is material that 

you should be addressing in cross. The answer 

14 will stand, and you may continue. 

15 BY MR. VINES: 

16 Q. In your conversation with Mr. Plas, you last 

17 testified that he informed you that he did not make a 

18 logbook entry, did Mr. Plas relate any additional 

19 information to you regarding observation that he found 

20 of the two bent pins inside the GPU receptacle? 

21 A. He did make a statement that there was a bending 

22 of the skin of the aircraft. 

23 Q. And did Mr. Plas indicate whether or not that 

24 observation was documented in the aircraft-discrepancy 

25 form or in aircraft-maintenance log? 

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Q. 

A. 

No, sir. 

He didn't indicate it or did he say --

He stated that he did a not make any logbook 

4 entries. 

5 Q. Going back to the statement by Mr. Honeycutt that 

6 he informed you that he took the GPU unit and attached 

7 it to his truck and drove around the airport area, did 

8 you, going back to the question earlier, did you 

9 investigate whether or not that actually occurred, 

10 whether or not Mr. Honeycutt do, in fact, do as what 

11 he claimed to have done? 

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13 

A. 

Q. 

I did. 

And what did you do as part of your 

14 investigation? 

15 A. With Mr. Honeycutt at my side, we were looking at 

16 the ramp area where he allegedly had destroyed this 

17 heavy piece of equipment. 

18 After he explained to me the dynamics of what he 

19 did, I asked him what was his purpose was, and he 

20 explained it to me. I asked him, ''Do you see any 

21 damage to the Tarmac that would indicate impact with a 

22 heavy piece of equipment, do you see any damage in the 

23 tears or skid marks", and his response was no. 

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Q. 

A. 

And based on that, did you form a conclusion? 

I did. 

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Q. 

A. 

And what was that? 

That I could not see how a large heavy piece of 

3 equipment, described in the manner in which Mr. 

4 Honeycutt stated, tied it to a truck, spun it around 

5 until it pulled itself and damaged itself, medal that 

6 was weighing pretty heavy could have not left any 

7 marks whatsoever on a very soft Tarmac, which is 

8 normally a small-rock base with Asphalt. 

9 Q. Were you ever able in your investigation to 

10 determine what exactly happened to the GPU unit? 

11 A. 

12 is? 

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14 

Q. 

A. 

Are you asking for a summation of what my belief 

Yes. 

After the discussion with Mr. Honeycutt on the 

15 Tarmac, his statement that he placed pieces of the 

16 device in which he destroyed along side the taxi way 

17 going out to the runway. 

18 We walked that area, going out along the taxi 

19 way, which is the only taxi way that the aircraft 

20 could have gone down. We did find additional pieces 

21 that gave an indication that it did come from a 

22 ground-power unit, by type of design, all the way down 

23 to the primary taxi way which is going down from the 

24 departure end. 

25 So we did find parts to that. I did do a 

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1 continuation after I left Mr. Honeycutt upon my 

2 investigation. 

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Q. 

A. 

And what was that? 

I proceeded over to the American Flyers Base 

5 Operator, and there was a report of a pilot --

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, Mr. Donahue 

is off again on a tangent. This is nothing I was 

told he was going to be testifying to, about 

other pilots. I object to the line. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the grounds that this information has not been 

previously disclosed, neither in exhibits or else 

wise. Do you have a response? 

MR. VINES: Judge, the Administrator 

disclosed to the Respondent that Mr. Donahue 

would be testifying to the facts of his 

investigation. It is true that the Administrator 

did not disclose every single fact associated 

with Mr. Donahue's investigation. 

Nonetheless, Judge, as this court has 

discussed before with the parties, the Respondent 

had an opportunity in discovery process to seek 

interrogatory questions from the inspector, to 

depose the inspector, none of which the 

Respondent did. 

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So we have disclosed that Mr. Donahue 

would, in fact, testify about his investigation. 

Therefore, we argue that his testimony regarding 

his investigation is appropriate and is relevant. 

THE COURT: Let me ask you this, 

Mr. Vines, let's assume that a certain point 

Exhibit C-7A and B is admitted upon your new 

motion for admission, is there something beyond 

that in addition to these exhibits that have 

already been admitted and that you plan to admit 

through the testimony of others that you would 

need? 

For example, it appears to me --we're 

getting almost to 4:00 hour. It appears to be 

peripheral evidence in terms of the allegations, 

violations that are before the Court. 

No doubt both parties have very strong 

opinions about the aftermath of what occurred, 

alleged to have occurred on May 3, 2009 and or 

May 7, 2009. We're now talking about a separate 

investigation about Mr. Honeycutt and his 

statements and potential behavior that occurred 

on or about June of 2009. 

I'm wondering if this isn't more 

appropriate for a potential rebuttal if, in fact, 

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Mr. Honeycutt denies the statements that he 

provided according to this witness to the FAA on 

or about June 9, 2009. 

Isn't this more of rebuttal issue as 

opposed to a prima fascia case issue? 

MR. VINES: Judge, I will respond to 

that. 

THE COURT: When I say that, there is 

no violation alleging misbehavior by Mr. 

Honeycutt that has been alleged to have occurred 

on or about June 9, 2009, and, in fact, Mr. 

Honeycutt is not a named party in these 

proceedings other than the fact that he is here 

today representing his company which is. 

So there may be some very strong 

opinions about how he responded to the 

investigation and what he said, but is that 

really necessary for your prima facia case on the 

violations in the requested civil penalty? 

MR. VINES: Judge, I'm aware, and I'm 

attempting to formulate a response. 

Yes, Judge, I would. I would argue 

that the story that Mr. Honeycutt has presented 

would go toward one of the factors that the FAA 

considers in opposing a civil penalty and that is 

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the latitude of violator. 

In this particular case, I would argue 

that Inspector Donahue's statement, as to his 

findings as to what actually happened, what 

really happened to the GPU unit, would be 

contrary to what Mr. Honeycutt signed off on the 

statement that is contained in C-7A and B. 

THE COURT: So this particular 

testimony is something that was used internally. 

What you are seeking to enter into the record is 

testimonial evidence that was not shared with the 

Respondent, but that served to inform your client 

as to how to calculate the civil penalty? 

MR. VINES: Yes. 

THE COURT: And as a result, this is 

something that Ms. Farmer was advised, and she 

would be potentially talking about the 

civil-penalty issue that goes beyond Exhibits 

C-17 and C-18. 

MR. VINES: No, Judge, C-17 contains 

C-18 contains the criteria for which the 

Administrator looks at in proposing a CP. 

THE COURT: I'm sorry, when we talked 

last Friday, you had identified C-17 and C-18 as 

being particularly relevant to the civil penalty, 

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and the Court directed you to provide some 

clarification information about those two 

exhibits to the Respondent so that he could 

address the civil penalty issue over the weekend. 

So that's where I'm assuming those two exhibits. 

But as I understand it from you, this 

is material that you utilized internally as part 

of your civil-penalty-assessment procedure? 

MR. VINES: Judge, this is relevant to 

the civil penalty, yes. 

THE COURT: Okay. Well since Mr. 

Honeycutt has not had a chance to discuss the 

civil-penalty process with Ms. Farmer yet, it 

appears to be a little premature. 

Is this witness available for tomorrow, 

are you a local witness? 

THE WITNESS: I am, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 

Is there anything else this witness 

could provide to you that does not involve the 

civil penalty or a civil-penalty calculation? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: What would that be just as 

an offer of proof? 

MR. VINES: That is going to be his 

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conversation with the First Officer, Mr. Price, 

as an inspector, excuse me, as an (inaudible) 

that has been qualified as an expert in Part 135 

Operations what he would expect to be documented 

or recorded, Judge. 

So there are some other pieces of 

information that I seek to elicit from this 

witness outside of the issue regarding the civil 

penalty. 

THE COURT: Okay. This is what I'm 

going to do, I will agree with you that there are 

parts of the investigation that may go towards 

the civil-penalty assessment. It sounds very 

much like this is part of that. 

What Mr. Honeycutt did or did not do 

after May 3, 2009 and or May 7, 2009 is 

peripheral to the violations themselves, but 

could, in fact, be on point in terms of how the 

FAA assesses the civil penalty. So this 

particular testimony that we've been starting to 

look into now from Inspector Donahue appears to 

be related to the civil-penalty assessment. 

This court previously just, and when I 

say previously, just a few days ago, last week 

advised Mr. Honeycutt that he could, in fact, 

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have an hour of time to talk privately with Ms. 

Farmer before having the challenge of 

cross-examination regarding the civil penalty. 

don't want to be in a position where Mr. 

Honeycutt is broadsided with this testimony 

without realizing its importance. 

So once Mr. Honeycutt has a chance to 

talk informally with Ms. Farmer and become more 

I 

educated about what the civil penalty is and what 

kinds of things that the FAA uses in terms of 

addressing and considering and to have reached 

the amount its reached in Mr. Honeycutt's case, 

this particular testimony from this witness would 

make much more sense, and it would be relevant. 

So I'm going to ask the FAA to reserve 

the remainder of this particular testimony from 

Mr. Donahue to tomorrow, and we'll put him back 

on the stand either before or after, probably 

before Ms. Farmer gets on the stand, which would 

then give Mr. Honeycutt an opportunity to be more 

fully informed before either of them start 

talking about standards that are used and 

evidence that was used for the calculation of the 

civil penalty. 

If you have questions to ask this 

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witness about the violations as opposed to the 

civil penalty, I would be most appreciative if 

you could move into those categories at this 

time. 

And, Mr. Donahue, I'll ask you to be 

available tomorrow for testimony about this 

particular matter when we get into the 

civil-penalty portion of this case. 

THE WITNESS: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

Mr. Vines. 

MR. VINES: Judge, if I may, just for 

understanding the road map of this case, there 

have been several pieces of testimony that have 

been elicited that will be used for purposes of 

the civil penalty. So again --

THE COURT: I understand what you are 

saying, but most of those have been related 

specifically to the violations that have been 

charged against this individual company. 

What I'm hearing from this witness 

right now does not have to do with the actual 

violations. It is an allegation in a series of 

statements that appear to allege misconduct by 

the Operator's owner in either covering up, 

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potentially covering up an act that was not in 

compliance in the Parts or some other basis in 

which you are offering it. It is not a statement 

that directly relates to what actually happened 

which involved the people who were involved in 

the happening. 

So I'm simply saying, Counsel, that if 

you are eliciting or want to elicit from this 

witness information about the other Operators 

lack of cooperation or lack of compliance after 

the fact, you have every right to do that. But I 

think in order to balance the scale so that the 

Respondent is fully aware of the import of this 

kind of testimony and how it would be considered 

by the Court, it is better to couple that with 

Ms. Farmer's testimony tomorrow. 

Not that you can't present it, but 

simply that I think it would be better to present 

it tomorrow after Mr. Honeycutt has his one hour 

of informal conversation with Ms. Farmer as 

previously directed by the Court. 

You have 45 minutes left, sir. You 

have information from this witness that deals 

directly with the violations. Do you have other 

questions to ask this witness about that? 

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MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Please continue. 

3 BY MR. VINES: 

4 Q. Inspector, did you have occasion to speak with 

5 the First Officer of N90LJ that operated that aircraft 

6 from a city point from TDP to MYAM? 

7 

8 

A. 

Q. 

I did. 

First of all, are you familiar with the city 

9 codes, the airport codes that I just referenced? 

10 

11 

12 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I am. The last one, yes. 

What does MYAM stand for? 

It is a location that what they refer to as an 

13 Airport Identification No. The MYAM is a location in 

14 

15 

Nassau, Bahamas. It is a small airport. 

Q. Thank you. What did your conversation with 

16 Mr. Price entail? 

17 A. The facts as he understood them. The events that 

18 transpired during that flight. 

19 

20 

Q. 

A. 

And what did he tell you? 

He explained to me the events, as we had done, 

21 from the respective of the First Officer seated in the 

22 left seat during preflight, started procedures, taxied 

23 out, and what his knowledge base was at the time where 

24 the ground personnel stated that they were unable to 

25 attach the (inaudible) cord to the aircraft for 

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1 purposes of starting the engine in the Nassau area. 

2 Q. Did Mr. Price have any -- what, if any, 

3 information did Mr. Price provide to you that you 

4 thought was relevant to your investigation? 

5 A. I would say two points. One is from the 

6 perspective of the First Officer that was actually 

7 flying that leg on the aircraft. He stated to me that 

8 he noticed (inaudible) sequence that he believed that 

9 the ground-power unit was attached due to a voltage 

10 drop in the instrumentation on his aircraft panel. He 

11 assumed that the unit was attached, however no 

12 communications between he and Captain Plas occurred 

13 that would steer him any in any other direction. 

14 The second was that he was not confided in on the 

15 events concerning the conversation between Mike 

16 Honeycutt and Captain Plas. 

17 Q. Thank you. Were you ever assigned as the 

18 Principle Operations Inspector for Worldwide Aircraft? 

19 

20 

21 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

I was. 

Do you recall when that took place? 

It was after Inspector Kahler happened on his 

22 relief of command on certificate. As I recall 2010, 

23 January. 

24 Q. And as part of your position as Principle 

25 Operations Inspector for Worldwide Aircraft, would you 

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1 be familiar with the company's General Operations 

2 Manual? 

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A. I am. 

MR. VINES: Your Honor, may I approach? 

THE COURT: You may. 

MR. VINES: I'm going to show you 

7 what's been admitted into evidence as C-13A 

8 through C-130. 

9 BY MR. VINES: 

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11 

12 

13 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Are you familiar with FAA Regulation 135.21A? 

I am. 

What does that regulation require, if you know? 

I don't know the specifics as I'm not an 

14 Airworthiness Inspector, but it has to do with the 

15 airworthiness status of the aircraft. 

16 Q. Do you know if that regulation addresses the 

17 requirement that the Part 135 Operator complied, 

18 excuse me, that the Part 135 Operator's Manual must be 

19 used by the Certificate holders 

20 flight-ground-and-maintenance personnel when 

21 conducting its investigation? 

22 

23 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

And the exhibit you have in front of you, Exhibit 

24 C-13A through 0, is the manual that is required under 

25 135.21A? 

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Q. 

Yes, that is correct. 

Okay. And for purposes of this hearing, assuming 

3 that -- first let me direct your attention to 

4 paragraph E-3 and F-1 of the General Operations 

5 Manual. Have you had a chance to look at E-3? 

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7 

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9 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

I have. 

Have you had a chance to read E-3? 

Yes. 

Assuming for purposes of this hearing, if the 

10 bent prongs to the aircraft GPU receptacle is 

11 considered or is considered a mechanical discrepancy 

12 or a mechanical irregularity, would you expect the 

13 Operator to document that particular mechanical 

14 discrepancy or irregularity in the aircraft 

15 maintenance log or aircraft-discrepancy form MX02? 

16 

17 

18 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

That is correct. 

And why is that? 

The aircraft typed-data sheet specifies component 

19 parts on the aircraft when they are nonfunctioning. 

20 It means the aircraft is not meeting certificate 

21 capabilities. It is not able to fly in the manner in 

22 which it was designed. This particular case, the 

23 aircraft could not be started using the ground-power 

24 unit if the battery had become defective. 

25 Q. Similar question, are you -- similar line of 

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1 questioning rather, are you familiar with section 

2 135.65C, that regulation? Let me ask you this, if you 

3 were to review, would that refresh your recollection? 

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A. It would. 

THE COURT: Counsel, this witness 

cannot provide a conclusion of law that 

trespasses on the exclusive prominences of this 

court. I hope you realize that. 

a copy? 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, can I have 

THE COURT: I'll note that Mr. Vines is 

showing a copy of the regulation to Mr. 

Honeycutt. 

This is available to the public, Mr. 

Honeycutt. It is available even if you Google 

this dissertation. You are welcome to take a 

look at Mr. Vines' book if you'd like. 

MR. VINES: For the Respondent's 

convenience, Judge, this regulation is contained 

in the complaint which the Respondent has a copy 

of. 

THE COURT: Thank you. 

What page of the complaint is it on, 

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Mr. Vines, just so we all know? 

MR. VINES: Count three. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: What was Mr. Vines' 

last statement? I'm sorry, I didn't hear it. 

THE COURT: If you look at your 

complaint 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: and if you go to page 

three, on page three of the complaint in 

paragraph 12, it has an A and B section. Section 

A basically states what 14CFR Section 135.21A 

says. Section B of paragraph 12 on page three of 

the complaint basically identifies what 14CFR 

Section 135.65C says. 

If you look at the amended complaint 

that was filed by the FAA, essentially the FAA is 

asserting that 12A of the complaint is the 

violation that occurred on approximately May 3, 

2009 and 12B involving Section 135.65C occurred 

on or about May 7, 2009, as I understand, the 

complaint and what Mr. Vines has said earlier in 

his opening. 

Any other questions, Mr. Honeycutt? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Mr. Vines, you may 

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continue. 

Judge? 

MR. VINES: May I approach the witness, 

THE COURT: You may. 

5 BY MR. VINES: 

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Q. 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Showing the witness FAA Regulation 135.65C. 

Yes, sir. 

Have you had a chance to review that regulation? 

I have. 

You testified earlier that Captain Plas indicated 

11 to you that there was a tear in the aircraft skin, I 

12 am understanding that is your testimony, correct? 

13 

14 

A. 

Q. 

Correct. 

Assuming for purposes of my argument that that 

15 tear in the aircraft skin constituted an observed 

16 failure or malfunction of the airframe, would you 

17 expect the company, Worldwide Aircraft to document 

18 that tear in the aircraft skin in an 

19 aircraft-maintenance log or on the MX02 form? 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

A. 

Q. 

I would. 

Why --

MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm sorry, I would hate 

to interrupt, but what was your statement again? 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, are you 

asking for the question to be repeated? 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Madam court reporter, could 

you repeat back the question? 

I'll note that the court reporter is 

unable to read back the question at this point. 

I can rephrase it to the best of my ability. 

Assuming if you believe my argument 

that the tear of the aircraft would be a failure 

or a malfunction of the airframe, would you agree 

that the captain should have recorded the action 

taken. 

That is essentially what the question 

was to this witness and he answered yes. Does 

that help? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I thought Mr. Plas made 

the comment that there was a tear in the aircraft 

and that's not Mr. Plas' statement. 

THE COURT: Okay. So you are objecting 

to the form of the question? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: And the answer. Again, 

there's an indication that there is a tear in the 

aircraft. They haven't proven that there's a 

tear in the aircraft. They just asserted that 

Mr. Plas told Mr. Donahue that and that's not the 

case. 

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THE COURT: Okay. Thank you very much 

for your objection. It is noted. It is 

overruled. The question and the answer will 

stand. 

Again, some of this is basically -- it 

goes to your ability to cross-examine. You have 

a witness to cross-examine and point out 

weaknesses or mistakes in the opposing side's 

case. 

Do you have other questions that you 

would like to ask this witness, Mr. Vines? 

MR. VINES: Yes. I don't recall 

getting an answer from the witness, Judge. 

THE COURT: He did answer. The answer 

15 was yes. 

16 BY MR. VINES: 

17 

18 

Q. 

A. 

And why do you feel that way? 

The aircraft skin is part of the aircraft and any 

19 damage to that may affect flight characteristics as in 

20 size of the aircraft, any tearing of the skin may need 

21 to be reviewed if it is a pressurized aircraft. 

22 In this case, the damage that occurred was the bi 

23 product of the attachment of the cord that had bent 

24 pins and damaged the skin of the aircraft when it was 

25 pulled free. 

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Q. Thank you. 

MR. VINES: I don't have anything 

further for Mr. Donahue. 

THE COURT: At this time, it is my 

understanding that you might call him tomorrow. 

Mr. Honeycutt, do you have any 

cross-examination of this witness at this time? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Please go ahead. 

10 - - -

11 CROSS-EXAMINATION 

12 - - - - -

13 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

14 Q. Is it your testimony that JET I.C.U. Worldwide 

15 Aircraft, based on your investigation, took off with 

16 the GPU attached to it? 

17 A. The evidence would suggest that that aircraft did 

18 take off or taxied and did take off with a product 

19 attached to it, mainly the GPU by physical evidence 

20 corroborated by pilot statements. 

21 

22 

Q. Can you produce the evidence? 

THE WITNESS: Am I allowed, your Honor, 

23 to respond to that? 

24 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

25 Q. It is a yes or no question. Can you produce the 

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THE COURT: Excuse me, Mr. Honeycutt, 

there has been a question opposed to the Court. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: The question has been posed 

to you, no objection has been made. You should 

answer. 

So the question was, can you produce 

it? 

THE WITNESS: I have no physical 

11 evidence as the evidence --

12 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

13 Q. Thank you. Your background is operations; is 

14 that correct? 

15 

16 

A. 

Q. 

Correct. 

You have no mechanical background, you have no 

17 A-and-P license or no inspector of (inaudible); is 

18 that correct? 

19 

20 

A. 

Q. 

That is correct. 

So would it be your statement that you can't be 

21 an expert witness on maintenance, for example, tear of 

22 skin and what would -- I mean, I don' believe you are 

23 an engineer as well, but what would deteriorate an 

24 aircraft to the point of damage? 

25 MR. VINES: Objection, compound 

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question. 

THE COURT: There's been an objection 

on the grounds that it is compound. Do have any 

response? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. I'll 

rephrase the question. 

THE COURT: The objection is noted and 

rendered moved. The question is withdrawn. You 

9 may rephrase. 

10 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

11 Q. Again, you have no maintenance background or 

12 license to work on an aircraft, correct? 

13 

14 

A. 

Q. 

Correct. 

You don't have an engineering background, 

15 therefore you can't testify as an expert on what may 

16 happen to the skin of an aircraft if it is dented or 

17 tore? 

18 A. I am a credentialed pilot. Part of our 

19 pre-flight requirements is that we ensure that the 

20 aircraft is airworthy. 

21 

22 

Q. 

A. 

I understand. 

The discretion of the pilot makes the initial 

23 determination that would then be given to a qualified 

24 representative of the airworthiness, the (inaudible) 

25 with an A-and-P Mechanic Certificate. 

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1 Q. So it is your testimony that you don't have a 

2 background in (inaudible) and you can't be considered 

3 an expert in that area? 

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5 

6 

7 

8 

MR. VINES: Objection, Judge, compound 

question. 

THE COURT: The objection is noted and 

respectfully overruled. You may answer. 

THE WITNESS: I am not a qualified 

9 maintenance representative. 

10 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

11 Q. That works. On your exhibit that you have in 

12 front of you labeled C-7A and C-78, could you explain 

13 what the bottom of it says Revision: Original 9/2/07 

14 means? 

15 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Yes. 

Could you explain to me what that means? 

This inspector's statement of fact is a form that 

18 I have generated myself in my use as an inspector to 

19 represent facts in a given case. As forms are often 

20 revised, I use the same methodology. As I'll define 

21 it for you in the 8900.1 Management Control of 

22 Documents. 

23 This revision original means the first statement 

24 attempt or first attempt at a document, as it is a 

25 living document and can be changed. The date 

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1 alongside of 9/2/2007 is when the date that I had 

2 initially created this document for its intended 

3 purpose. 

4 Q. What is the -- under your name, Robert Donahue, 

5 front-line manager through Unit 6, what does that 

6 reference? I'm just curious. 

7 A. This form was created during the period I was the 

8 front-line manager employed at the Tampa Flight 

9 Standard District Office Tampa, Florida. As I left 

10 that position, I retained the form. 

11 

12 

At the time this statement was done, I had not 

yet removed the front-line manager's. So I 

13 (inaudible) correction was initiated and initialed by 

14 myself to indicate that this is not somebody elses 

15 signature. 

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21 

22 

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24 

25 

Q. 

A. 

Why are you no longer front-line manager? 

It was my choice to leave that position. 

MR. VINES: Objection. 

THE COURT: I'm sorry, there was an 

objection. 

MR. VINES: Objection to relevance. 

THE COURT: Your objection is noted and 

respectfully overruled. 

I'm sorry, were you finished with your 

answer? 

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1 THE WITNESS: Yes. 

2 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

3 

4 

5 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

I'm sorry, and your answer was? 

I left the position of my own desire. 

Okay. Did the personnel and employees of JET 

6 I.C.U. cooperate with you during your investigation? 

7 A. They were free, and they did not hold back any 

8 information. The statements provided to me I took as 

9 honest and true. 

10 Q. You referenced the -- again, your counsel 

11 referenced Exhibit C-7A and B, your statement of 

12 facts, you referenced my signature on that? 

13 

14 

15 

16 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

That's Correct. 

As well as Frank Schaefer's signature? 

That's correct. 

Can you explain to the Court how three signatures 

17 got on this document? 

18 A. The document was intended to provide one common 

19 source of information that all parties privy to that 

20 discussion occurred. Myself and Mr. Schaefer, we 

21 signed it at the same time in his cubicle. 

22 This information was then moved over to you for 

23 your concurrence, and you did state at that time that 

24 you are validating the authenticity of the facts, and 

25 therefore you signed it. 

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Q. 

A. 

How did I receive it? 

I thought it was in person, but that was a long 

3 time ago. 

4 

5 

6 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

Would you look at the top of the document? 

Yes. 

I believe the time of the document received 

7 6/9/2009 at 8:22? 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

Yes. 

From JET I.C.U., would you consider that to be a 

10 fax letter cover head at the top? 

11 

12 

A. 

Q. 

It may be. 

So would you -- you don't have the cover page 

13 from this fax is what you're saying? 

14 

15 

16 

17 

A. 

Q. 

A. 

Q. 

I do not. 

But it may be in the EIR? 

I don't know. 

So there may be another page to this, you would 

18 agree to that? 

19 

20 

A. 

Q. 

I can't deny that there's not. 

All right. Mr. Price's statement that you just 

21 referenced, Exhibit C-9, could you point out in the 

22 statement there --

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A. I do not have C-9. I have C-8A and C-BB. 

THE COURT: I'm assuming, Mr. Vines, 

that you have C-9, could you provide that to Mr. 

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Honeycutt, please. 

MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Thank you. May I 

approach the witness, your Honor? 

THE COURT: You may. 

6 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

7 Q. Do you recognize that document as the letter that 

8 Mr. Price wrote to you as requested by you? 

9 

10 

11 

THE COURT: Is this Exhibit C-9? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes. 

THE WITNESS: It is. 

12 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 

13 Q. Earlier you testified that Mr. Price stated that 

14 he was not privy to the conversation between Captain 

15 Plas and myself, could you point that out in this 

16 document where he discusses not being privy to the 

17 conversation? 

18 A. Mr. Price made that statement to me by oral when 

19 I was in my oral investigations with him. He did 

20 state that he was not privy --

21 

22 

Q. 

A. 

Did you -- I'm sorry, go ahead. 

he was not privy to the communications between 

23 you and Captain Plas. 

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25 

Q. 

A. 

Did you make notes of that? 

I did. 

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1 Q. Would that be in your file, would that be in the 

2 investigative report file? 

3 A. I don't know what the content of this file is 

4 here. It does not appear to be on the documents that 

5 are presented in front of me. 

6 Q. But it is your testimony that you made 

7 documentation that Mr. Price made that statement? 

8 

9 

A. 

Q. 

I did. 

And then I believe that Mr. Kahler said that your 

10 investigative report came to him, as well as 

11 Mr. Schaefer, and then he started the EIR ln July. So 

12 I just wanted to clarify that you made notes on your 

13 conversations with Eric Price? 

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A. I did. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, I have not 

been privy to that. 

THE COURT: You have a motion of some 

sort? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: My motion is to strike 

Mr. Donahue's statement that Mr. Price told him 

he was not priveledged to the conversation 

between Plas and myself, Michael Honeycutt, on 

the day of the alleged incident for the fact that 

we have not been given proof of that, and it is 

not in Mr. Eric Price's statement. 

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THE COURT: Well, let me ask you this, 

how do you think that is relevant to the proof of 

the prima facia case in your defense? It seems 

like a fairly circumstantial matter to this 

court. Why is this important to you? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Well, it is important 

to me, your Honor, that the statements are facts. 

You know, Mr. Donahue is alleging that he had a 

conversation with Mr. Price, and I don't have the 

ability to cross Mr. Price. 

Therefore, it leads to the fate where 

we're going to go with --meet with counsel that 

this fine, you know, the price of the fine is 

based on some information that I have not been 

privy to. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: So I just want to point 

out that it -- I'm sorry, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Okay. Go ahead, Mr. 

Honeycutt. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I just want to point 

out that it is not in Mr. Eric Price's written 

statement that he wasn't priveledged to our 

conversation. 

THE COURT: Okay. First and foremost, 

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this witness did not answer your question when 

you asked if the information was contained in Mr. 

Price's statement. 

Would you answer that now; is that a 

yes or a no? 

THE WITNESS: It is not contained in 

the statement that was just presented to me. 

THE COURT: Okay. And the rest of your 

answer was an explanation as to why you were able 

to testify to it as to what was contained in the 

statement. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: That's correct, your 

Honor. 

THE COURT: And as I understand it from 

your testimony, you made notes that were 

independent of the receipt of this June 5, 2009 

letter identified as Exhibit C-9 that inform your 

testimony today about the events that occurred 

approximately five years ago. 

THE WITNESS: As part of the complaint 

that I was investigating yes, ma'am. I did 

create the same form of inspector statements, and 

they were presented with the actual complaint and 

was put on file at the Flight Standard's office. 

THE COURT: Your inspector statement is 

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in which document, if you recall? 

THE WITNESS: Actually, I believe there 

should have been two or three inspector 

statements Charlie 7 Alpha and Charlie 7 Bravo is 

what I have in front of me. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

to C-7A and B for a moment. 

I'm just going to go 

Since exhibit C-7A 

and B have not yet been admitted, can you review 

Exhibit C-7A and B where, if at all, you indicate 

where the conversation with Mr. Plas to which you 

testified that is not included in Mr. Plas' 

statement that we just reviewed? 

MR. VINES: Judge, I just want to make 

sure we're on the same page. There was two 

pilots involved. It was Price and Plas. 

my understanding that the Respondent was 

asking --

It is 

THE COURT: About Mr. Price instead of 

Mr. Plas? 

MR. VINES: Yes. So I want to make 

sure --

THE COURT: That we're on the same 

page. Thank you for that clarification. 

So Mr. Price's statement is -- let's 

see if we can find that. 

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MR. HONEYCUTT: C-9, your Honor, is 

Mr. Price's statement. 

Honeycutt. 

THE COURT: Thank you very much, Mr. 

Do you have C-9 in front of you, sir? 

THE WITNESS: No, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Who has C-9? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: We have a copy. 

THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, this is your 

inquiry, do you want to check the podium in front 

of you to see if C-9 is there? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I would, your Honor. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

If I recall the testimony so far in 

cross, Mr. Donahue you already said that 

Mr. Price's statement that he made to you is not 

in Mr. --Mr. Price's statement about the fact 

that he was not privy to the conversation between 

Mr. Honeycutt and Mr. Plas is not contained in 

C-9, he said it to you orally? 

THE WITNESS: I have not seen C-9. 

THE COURT: Okay. Why don't we look at 

C-9 for just a moment, please. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: C-9 is not on the 

podium, your Honor. 

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THE WITNESS: I have C-BA, B. Here is 

C-9. I'm sorry. 

THE COURT: C-9 has been found in Mr. 

Donahue's position. 

Could you again, Mr. Donahue, review 

C-9 to see if Mr. Price indicated that particular 

piece of information in this statement he 

provided to you. 

THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Is that particular 

statement included in Exhibit C-9 anywhere? 

THE WITNESS: It is. 

THE COURT: And where is it? 

THE WITNESS: The third paragraph 

May I read it? 

THE COURT: No. 

down. 

Mr. Honeycutt, the witness states the 

testimony is that the conversation between Mr. 

Plas and you by telephone was described by 

Mr. Price in Exhibit C-9 in the third paragraph 

down. 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I agree that the 

reference to our conversation is there, the 

question I had is that Mr. Plas does not make a 

statement that he was not privileged -- Mr. Price 

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does not make in this statement that he was not 

privileged to that conversation. 

THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 

Mr. Donahue, in your own statement, 

which I believe has been marked as Exhibit C-7A 

and B, do you mention this matter of whether or 

not Mr. Price states if he is -- whether or not 

he was privy to the conversation between Mr. 

Honeycutt and Mr. Plas? 

THE WITNESS: No, ma'am, C-7A and B do 

not address the conversations with either pilot. 

This was a statement of fact of the events at the 

airport. 

THE COURT: Okay. You had indicated in 

your earlier testimony that Mr. Price said this 

information to you orally and that you made notes 

of that conversation. 

THE WITNESS: I did. 

THE COURT: Did you bring the notes 

with you today? 

THE WITNESS: I did. 

THE COURT: Where are they? 

THE WITNESS: I have them in my brief. 

THE COURT: I'm going to ask you to get 

up off the witness chair, and if you would be so 

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kind, to bring those notes back up to the witness 

chair. 

I'll note that Mr. Donahue is returning 

to the witness chair with some materials. 

Could you look through your notebook 

and see if you can find that clarification of 

that conversation? 

THE WITNESS: Yes, ma'am. 

MR. VINES: Judge, may I ask the Court, 

why the Court is asking Mr. Donahue to reference 

his notes before Mr. Donahue actually does so? 

THE COURT: Yes, because it is a 

fundamental right of the opposing side to see the 

written notes that help the party or the witness 

to recollect testimony. 

So if it has not been disclosed, Mr. 

Honeycutt has a right to review the notes that 

support the testimony that has just been elicited 

in direct. That's why. 

We're not saying that all of the notes 

that are in this particular witness' possession 

are available for disclosure. It is simply the 

ones that are directly related to this point. 

Have you found the notes, Mr. Donahue? 

THE WITNESS: I have. 

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THE COURT: Counsel, you are welcome to 

come up and look at these notes quietly. 

want to take a look at the notes? 

MR. VINES: Yes. 

Do you 

THE WITNESS: I thought I had the right 

ones, but I have so many in here. 

THE COURT: And while you're doing 

that, sir, I'll just note for the parties that it 

is about 4:26, which means we have about four 

minutes left. It may be that this is something 

that you are going to end up providing after our 

brief recess. 

From 4:30 to 5:30 Ms. Farmer is going 

to be available to Mr. Honeycutt and his 

assistant in the presence of Mr. Vines for any 

informal discussion about how the FAA utilizes 

the publicly published material on how sanctions 

are assessed, and then, Mr. Donahue, I would also 

like you to provide or at least show to Mr. 

Honeycutt and to Mr. Vines the material that you 

clarified after you had this conversation with 

Mr. Price in which you said he was not privy to 

the conversation that Mr. Honeycutt had with his 

pilot. So that Mr. Honeycutt is aware of what 

notes you took contemporaneously that would help 

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refresh your memory on that regard. 

In addition, either Mr. Donahue and or 

Mr. Vines, I would like you to provide either an 

oral summary or a written summary of the 

information that you seek to elicit from Mr. 

Donahue tomorrow about the material that we 

reserve for tomorrow's testimony that relates 

specifically to the assessment of the fine. 

That being there was in the beginning 

of the testimony about how Mr. Donahue engaged in 

other investigation after Mr. Honeycutt quit his 

presence when he went over to American and then 

that's where the testimony stopped. 

If you, Mr. Vines, could provide a 

brief summation of what that testimony is and why 

it is important, that would be helpful. Then, 

when we come back tomorrow, everyone will be more 

on the same page and able to proceed without 

feeling like they've been blindsided. 

Mr. Donahue, have you found the notes? 

THE WITNESS: I am reading the 

statement right now to see if that is indeed the 

correct statement. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Mr. Vines, let me ask you this, we have 

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Mr. Donahue on the stand, we're going to have a 

little more time with him on cross for these 

matters tomorrow morning, and then he will be 

recalled after or put back on the stand depending 

on the order of witnesses to talk about the 

American investigation in June 2009, aside from 

Mr. Donahue and Ms. Farmer and Mr. Singleton, 

anyone else you are planning to call? 

MR. VINES: No, Judge, just the 

witnesses you just mentioned. 

THE COURT: Okay. We have one day 

reserved left so I am a little concerned about 

the time we have left we reserved. 

If I recall, when we first got together 

and talked about this case in 2013, you both 

thought it could be done in a day, and I reserved 

two days as a matter of caution which appears to 

have been underestimated. 

Mr. Honeycutt, I know you are planning 

to testify, and you were talking about having 

Mr. Fanning come back potentially, who else are 

you planning to have testify? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Lisa Oleski. 

THE COURT: Anyone else, you had 

originally identified 10 different people, I just 

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wanted to know if there's been a reduction in any 

way? What about your father, William Honeycutt? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor. 

THE COURT: There was a Kurt Handing 

that you had scheduled? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: That was the mechanic 

that the government intended to call. So I 

listed the government's witnesses as well. As 

for me, my witnesses are me, my father, Mr. 

Fanning, and Lisa. 

THE COURT: And yourself? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: I am not sure. 

THE COURT: You had listed yourself. 

So I am just going to keep that possibility open 

for you. 

I'm just trying to think of how we can 

squeeze everybody into one day tomorrow. 

Mr. Vines, how much time do you think 

Mr. Singleton's testimony is going to take, best 

estimate? 

MR. VINES: Approximately one to two 

hours, two hours. 

THE COURT: Okay. We may not finish at 

5:00 tomorrow night. So the question is, if I 

can reserve this room for part of the morning on 

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Friday, I would be happy to do so. That may be a 

test of the Courthouse's resources that are not 

available to the Court, but I certainly will 

inquire. 

If that is not available, then I want 

you both to be thinking about what we can do. I 

mean, the most expensive alternative is to come 

back again. I'm not sure that any of us would 

want to wait that long, impart because my trial 

calendar is booked through the next October, this 

coming October, which means a very long time to 

wait. 

We could potentially do some other 

things which would include having you all come to 

Washington, DC which would be an in-person 

hearing for the final portion of this case. We 

could also consider talking about perpetuation 

depositions, although I think given Mr. 

Honeycutt's lack of experience, that's probably 

not a wise alternative to consider. 

We could talk about doing some other 

things, but I'll leave it to you to talk to each 

other about what would work for you both and or 

to provide some suggestions to me tomorrow in the 

event that I don't have the option for this 

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courtroom for Friday. 

Mr. Vines, are you even available; did 

you travel in from a different part of the 

country? 

MR. VINES: I did, Judge, but I am 

available for Friday. My flight is scheduled for 

4 p.m. on Friday. 

THE COURT: Okay. 

Mr. Honeycutt, would you be available 

on Friday if I can get the courtroom for a short 

period of time? 

MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 

THE COURT: Okay. I would recommend 

that, if it is at all possible, that we start at 

8:30 tomorrow morning, add a half hour to our 

time. That would give us from 8:30 to 5. It 

would squeeze a little more time for us, and then 

I will check in to whether the courtroom is 

available. 

flight. 

I would have to leave by 11 to catch my 

I cannot change my flight for reasons I 

don't need to get into right now, but if we had 

8:30 to 5 tomorrow and then potentially a little 

bit of time from 8:30 to 11 on Friday, I think we 

could probably finish up. I'll talk to the 

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Courthouse staff about that. 

Madam court reporter, what about you? 

I forgot to ask you. 

THE COURT REPORTER: I should be able 

to. 

THE COURT: Okay. If it is not 

possible for you, could you contact your office 

and have them send another reporter? 

THE COURT REPORTER: Yes. 

THE COURT: That's great. 

So to recap, Mr. Donahue, if you would 

provide additional visual reading of your notes 

Mr. Vines. 

THE WITNESS: I have them right here. 

THE COURT: -- to Mr. Honeycutt and 

Mr. Vines, if you could provide just a 

general summary of the testimony of Mr. Donahue 

that speaks directly to the assessment of the 

penalty and then, folks, you're welcome to sit 

and use this courtroom, I believe --

Officer, is that correct? 

THE BAILIFF: Yes. 

THE COURT: -- until 5:35 so that Mr. 

Honeycutt and his assistant can inquire Ms. 

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Farmer. 

And, Ms. Farmer, if you could be 

available to do that, that would be a great 

assistance. 

I'll see you all back here at 8:30 

tomorrow morning. 

With the that, the Court is in recess. 

Thank you. 

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Untitled 

1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 

2 STATE OF FLORIOA 

3 COUNTY OF HILLSBOROUGH: 

4 

5 I, LAURA MORALES, Court Reporter, 

6 Notary Public, certify that I was authorized 

7 to and did steno!Jraphically report the foregocing 

8 proceeding and that the transccript is a true 

9 and complete record of my stenographic notes. 

10 I further certify that I am not il 

ll relijtiv·e, employee, attorney, or counsel of 

1'2- any _of the parties~ nor am ·r a relati-ve ·or 

13 emp.loyee of any of the par-ti-es-' att:or·ney rir 

14 counsel connected with t:he actionJ nor am ! 

15 fi nand a 11 y interested in the action. 

16 

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20 

2l 

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2~ 

L;~~orales,; ~JA!Jv '-f~Y1 ~h ~ court: R~porter, _.Notary -P-Ublic 

State of Florida at Large 

My commission No. : FF()29798 

Expires: June 10, ~017