Direct Dial: 435.634.3530 

Direct Fax: 435.634.3505 

e-mail: 1emcrson@skvvlcst.com 

RECEIVED 

SEP I C 20llt 

HEARING DOCKET 

September 15,2014 

VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS 

Federal Aviation Administration 

ATTN: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430 

Wilbur Wright Building- Suite 2Wl 000 

800 Independence A venue SW 

Washington, DC 20591 

Re: Case No. 2014WP910006 

Dear Sir/Madam: 

The Final Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty in the above-referenced case was 

received in our office on September 12, 2014. 

Pursuant to §13.16 (e) (2) (ii) of Federal Aviation Regulations, Sky West Airlines 

hereby requests a hearing on this matter. 

Sincerely, 

Todd C. Emerson 

Director- Government and Legal Affairs 

TCE/jb 

cc: Jeffrey M. Harper 

444 South River Road // St. George, Utah 84790 /! Phone 435.634.3000 :: www.skywest.com 
SEP ll 20llt 

U.S. Department 

ofT ransportation 

Federal Aviation 

Administration 

September 9, 2014 

Northwest Mountain Region 

Office of Regional Counsel 

Colorado, Idaho, Montana, 

Oregon, Utah, Washington, 

Wyoming 

1601 Lind Avenue SW. 

Renton, Washington 98057 

Tel: (425) 227-2161 

Fax: (425) 227-1007 

jeffrey.harper@faa.gov 

FAA Case No. 2014WP910006 

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL- RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED 

Michael B. Thompson 

Chief Operating Officer 

Sky West Airlines, Inc. 

444 South River Road 

Saint George, UT 84790-2086 

HE/iRING DOCKET 

FINAL NOTICE OF PROPOSED CIVIL PENALTY 

On April 25, 2014, Sky West Airlines, Inc. was advised through a Notice of Proposed Civil 

Penalty that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed to assess a civil penalty io 

the ammmt of$295,750. 

After consideration of all information presently available in this proceeding, iocludiog the 

ioformation Sky West presented at the informal conference held on July 9, 2014, it appears 

that: 

1. Sky West Airlines, Inc. (Sky West) is now, and was at all times relevant hereio, the 

holder of Air Carrier Certificate No. SWIAOllA, and condncts its operations pursnant 

to Part 121 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR), 14 Code of Federal 

Regulations (C.F.R.) Chaprer I. 

2. At all times relevant herein, Sky West held appropriate Operations Specifications 

(OpSpecs) certifying it would comply with the requirements of 14 C.F.R. Part 120 

and 49 C.F.R. Part 40 for its Antidrug and Alcohol Misuse Prevention Program. 

3. Selections were made from Sky West's random testing pool on July 6, 2012, and 

January 21,2013. 

4. The followiog Sky West employees were assigned to safety-sensitive functions with 

Sky West on and immediately before July 6, 2012: 

Dennis Adams 

Troy Allen 

Chris Aguirre 

Thomas Altenburg 

Marco Alcazar 

Douglas Ambrose 
Sky West Airlines, Inc. -FAA Case No. 2014WP9!0006 

September 9, 2014 

Page2 of6 

Joe Anderson Nathan Andersen 

Helmuth Araya Bryan Atkinson 

Jeffrey Baker Albert Barcena 

Ian Benton Daniel Berru 

Randy Bugni Robert Bunnell 

James Bybee Arnold Cabantac 

Joseph Casey Marc Chance 

Gary (Scott) Clark Robert Clarke 

Timothy Courtney SeanDanet 

David Ebersole Eric Engelldng 

Daniel Estrada Bruce Evans 

David Garcia Michael Gerthoffer 

Clinton Godfrey Franz Golbeck 

James Govier Nicholas Gutknecht 

James Hall Charles Hampton 

Lawrence Hanna Christian Hansen 

William Harmon Augo Harris 

Guy Hawkins James Hayes 

Christoph Hechtle Andrew Hendrickson 

Corey Hogberg Ryan Holland 

David Hosler Matthew Huckabay 

Robert Jardine Jedadiah Jindra 

J errett Jones Brian Joyce 

Nathan Kloster David Kuhnhausen 

Michael LaP o!lette Gregory Lake 

TaeLee Andres Limon 

Eric Lopez Brian Lott 

John Malinka Keith Malnar 

Brian Marion Phillip A. Martin 

John Maxwell Laura Meidell 

James Mooney Rodolfo Morales 

Richard Mueller Adam Mundt 

Shawn Nelson Howard Newson 

Casey Opdahl Gustavao Ortega 

Andy Ostler John Paley 

Dave Pfingsten Robert Phelps 

Phillip Anthony 

Daniel Ayotte 

Anthony Bartlett 

Craig Brown 

Aaron Buttars 

Alejandro Caravantes 

Kevin Chio 

Damon Clement 

Ian Dougherty 

Kenneth England 

Kenneth Frasson 

Gary Giessen 

J. Gonzalez Lucatero 

Jedidiah Gwinn 

William Hancock 

Joshua Harmon 

Christopher Hawes 

Jill Hebert 

Jason Hintgen 

Lynn Holyoak 

Bobby James 

Mark Johnson 

Joshua Kelly 

Daniel Kuttz 

David Lalowski 

David Lopez 

Joseph Lyons 

Michael Manding 

Oscar Martinez 

Brandon Miller 

Raymond Morse 

Paul Nelson 

Scott Nordbye 

Mark Osborn 

Charles Peterson 

Simon Pipe 
SkyWestAirlines, Inc.- FAA Case No. 2014WP910006 

September 9, 20 14 

Page 3 of6 

Donald Powell Robert Price 

Todd Rimmereid Keith Robinson 

John Rush Robert Salisbury 

Randy Schaaf Jim Schoenfelder 

Sean Shepard Bradley Smith 

Darin Smith Jacob Smith 

Kevin Sokol Todd Spindler 

Jeremy StefarL~ki John Stewart 

Jolm Szrnurlo Robert Taylor 

Michael (Tupac) Tveten Thao Vang 

Yang Vue Scott Waters 

John Vvbitcomb Thomas Wilks 

John Zielinski 

Peter Questi 

Angel Rodriguez-Alicea 

Eliseo Sanchez 

Todd Schreier 

Bryann Smith 

Jeffrey Smith 

Timothy Stamps 

JohnSyme 

Reginald Teague 

Edward Vasquez 

Ian Weight 

Michael Witek 

5. The employees listed in paragraph 4 were not in Sky West's random testing pool on 

July 6, 2012. 

6. Mr. Brandon Jennings: 

a. On and immediately before January 21,2013, SkyWest employee Mr. Jennings 

was assigned to safety-sensitive functions with Sky West. 

b. On January 21, 2013, Mr. Jennings was not in Sky West's random testing pool. 

7. Mr. Matthew Barber: 

a. Sky West hired Mr. Barber to perform a safety-sensitive function on 

May 23, 2012. 

b. Sky West did not receive a verified negative drug test result for Mr. Barber before 

May 24, 2012. 

8. Ms. Adriana Chagas: 

a. Sky West transferred Ms. Chagas to a safety-sensitive function on July 26, 2013. 

b. Sky West did not receive a verified negative drug test result for Ms. Chagas before 

July 29, 2013. 

9. Sky West subjected the following employees to drug testing on the dates listed: 

Employee Date of Test 

Nexus Geronimo I. Gallermo April28, 2012 
Sky West Airlines, Inc.- FAA Case No. 2014WP910006 

September 9, 2014 

Page 4 of6 

YueZaho 

Ryan Quintanilla 

November {.7, 2012 

November 28, 2012 

10. The employees described in paragraph 9 were not assigned to safety-sensitive duties 

on the dates they were subjected to testing. 

ll. The employees described in paragraph 9 were not involved in any accidents on or 

about the dates when they were subjected to post-accident testing. 

12. The tests described in paragraph 9 were documented on a Federal Drug Testing 

Custody and Control Form (CCF). 

13. The CCFs described in paragraph 12 specified "post accident" as the reason for the 

test. 

14. On May 31, 2013, Sky West's Medical Review Officer canceled a return to duty test 

due to the failure to collect the specimen under direct observation. 

15. Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) written reports concerning follow-up 

evaluations, dated June 8, 2013 and July 10,2013, did not include the inclusive dates 

of the employees' program participation. 

By reason of the foregoing facts and circumstances, it appears that Sky West violated the 

following sections of the Federal Aviation Regulations (Title 14, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Chapter I): 

a. Section 120.105, in that employees performing safety-sensitive functions were not 

subject to a drug testing program implemented in accordance with 14 C.F.R Part 120, 

Subpart E. 

b. Section 120.109(a)(l), in that it hired an employee to perform a safety-sensitive 

function listed in 14 C.F.R. Section 120.105 when it did not first receive a verified 

negative drug test result for that individual. 

c. Section 120. I 09(a)(2), in that it transferred an individual from a non-safety-sensitive 

to a safety-sensitive function when it did not first receive a verified negative drug test 

result for that individual. 

d. Section 120.215(a), in that employees performing safety-sensitive functions were not 

subject to an alcohol testing program implemented in accordance with 14 C.F.R. 

Part 120, Subpart F. 

In addition, by reason of the foregoing facts and circumstances, it appears that Sky West 

violated the following sections of Title 49, C.P.R.: 

a. Section 40.47(a), in that it used a Federal CCF for a non-Federal urine collection. 
SkyWestAirlines, Inc.- FAA Case No. 2014WP910006 

September 9, 2014 

Page 5 of6 

b. Section 40.209(b)(6), in that its MRO declared a test canceled based on an error that 

does not have a significant adverse effect on the right of the employee to have a fair 

and accurate test; specifically, the failure to directly observe or monitor a collection 

that the rule require to be directly observed or monitored. 

c. Section 40.311 ( d)(6), in that its SAP's written reports concerning follow-up 

evaluations did not contain the inclusive dates of the employees' program 

participation. 

Under Title 49, United States Code, Sections 46301(a) and (d), as modified at 14 C.P.R. 

Part 13, Subpart H, Sh.')'West is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $27,500 for each of 

the violations noted. We propose to assess a civil penalty in the amount .of.$280,375. 

Unless Sky West mails or personally delivers, in writing, its requestfo,ra]1.eari;I)g,i)lthj§ 

matte,r, on or before fifteen(15)•days after Sky West receives this. Final Notice. ofPtciposed 

Civil Penalty (Final Notice), an Order Assessing Civil Penalty will be issued andSkyWest 

will have no further right to ahearing.If Sky West does not submit a written request for a 

hearing, Sky West must pay the proposed civil penalty. 

A request for a hearing must be sent to: 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Attention: Hearingpocket Cler.k, AGC-430 

Wilbur W,right Building 

800 Independence Avenue Southwest 

Washington, DC 20591 

A copy must also be sentto.the undersigned FAA attorney at the following address: 

F.ederal Aviation Administration 

Office of Regional Counsel~ANM-7 

Northwest Mountain Region 

1601 Lind Avenue, Southwest 

Renton, WA 98057 

Sky West request's must be dated and signed,. in accordance with Section 13.16 of the Federal 

Aviation Regulations (14 C.P.R. Section 13.16), sent to Sky West with the Notice. 

Sky West may pay the proposed penalty by submitting a certified check or money order, 

payable to the "Federal Aviation Administration," to the Office of Regional Counsel, 

Northwest Mountain Region, 1601 Lind Avenue Southwest, Renton, Washington 98057. 

In the alternative, Sky West may pay its civil penalty with a credit card or a bank account 

debit over the Internet. To pay electronically, visit the web site at https:/lwww.pay.gov. Under 

the Search Public Forms option type in "FNM-FINEl." Click on "FAA Civil Penalty 
Sky West Airlines, Inc.- FAA Case No. 2014WP910006 

September 9, 2014 

Page 6 of6 

Payments-- Northwest Mountain Region." Sky West must then complete the requested 

information and click "Continue." Sky West will then be directed to enter its credit card or 

bank account debit information. To use the bank account debit Sky West will need its bank 

routing, account, and check numbers. 

If Sky West has any questions regarding this Final Notice, please contact F AAAttomey 

J. M. Harper at telephone number (425) 227-2161. 

DWIGHT S. WILLIAMS 

Regional Counsel 

By: 

JMHJds 

cc: Todd C. Emerson, Esq. 

Sky West Airlines, Inc. 

444 South River Road 

St. George, UT 94790 
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I 

h-neutr~· 

IDp.lng ORIGIN IO:SGUA (435) 634-3191 LINDA LAUB 

I SKYWEST AIRLINES, INC. 

444 S RIVER ROAD 

ST GEORGE, UT 84790 

UNITED STATES US 

SHIP DATE: 15SEP14 

ACTWGT: 0.8 LB MAN 

CAD: 07370761CAFE2805 

BILL SENDER 

ro HEARING DOCKET CLERK, AGC-430 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

800 INDEPENDENCE AVENUE, SW 

WILBUR WRIGHT BLDG=SUITE 2W1000 

WASHINGTON DC 20591 

( 4361634 - 3000 

bEP :PEOPLE REF: JOHANNA BAKER 

Ill 11111111111111111 

~ 6052 3625 9789. 

XC WASA 

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