1
2 3 

# ORIGINAL

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF HEARINGS

WASHINGTON, DC

4 In the Matter of, Docket No. FAA-2013-0045 5 WORLDWIDE AIRCRAFT SERVICES, INC., Case No. 2009S0150216 6 7 8 9 

### 10 11 

### 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Respondent.



## _______________________/

DATE: TIME: PLACE:

REPORTED BY: HEARING, VOLUME III March 7, 2014 8:30 a.m. - 12:55 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 79

20 The above-entitled cause came on for hearing 21 before the Honorable J.E. Sullivan, Administrative 22 Law Judge, pursuant to notice. 23 24 25

### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,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 10 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 15 16 ALSO PRESENT: 17 Paul Bowen 18 Michael Singleton 19 20 21 22 23 24 25



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

I N D E X (Continued) 1 2 3 Direct Cross Redirect Recross Witnesses for the Agency: Martha Farmer 7 8 4 5 Witnesses for the Respondent: Michael Honeycutt 17 42 6 7 Closing byMr. Vines 52, 70 Closing by Mr. Honeycutt 63 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 No. E XH I B I T S (Continued) Description (No exhibits were marked.)



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 P R0 C E E D I N G S

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 for a third day of testimony. All parties previously identified for the FAA and the Respondent, Worldwide Aircraft, have returned to the hearing room, and our witness, Ms. Farmer, has reseated herself in the witness chair. It is my understanding, from the recess that we took last evening, that the FAA had finished with its direct examination of Ms. Farmer, who is its last witness. We're planning to proceed this morning with cross-examination from the Respondent. Ms. Farmer, you are still under oath. Mr. Honeycutt, do you have any cross-examination for this witness? MR. VINES: Judge, if I could just interrupt.THE COURT: Mr. Vines. MR. VINES: Judge, this morning the



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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 Administratormoves to withdraw count two of the complaint, that would be paragraphs 9, 10, and 11, as well as paragraph 128 as inboy, and the result of that, we also move to amend the sanction downward departure to $6,100. THE COURT: Okay. Well, this is a littlebit of a surprise to the Court. MR. VINES: Yes. THE COURT: So if I may have you tell

me a littlebit more about that. So let me get my sheet ofpaper here. So in looking at the amended complaint, I'm on count two and count two paragraphs 9, 10, and 11 are withdrawn; is that correct? MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. THE COURT: Okay. And then tell me again what the rest of that was? MR. VINES: Happily, Judge. Again, under count two, paragraphs 9, 10, and 11 of the complaint and under that inparagraph 128 as in boy. THE COURT: Okay. And then as a result, you are amending the proposedpenalty of $12,375 down to howmuch? MR. VINES: $6,100.



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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: Mr. Honeycutt, do you have any objection to that motion? MR. HONEYCUTT: I have no objection to that, your Honor. THE COURT: The motion to withdraw count two is granted. The motion to strike section B on the basis of withdraw is granted. The motion to reduce the proposed penalty from $12,375 to $6,100 is granted. Since there is a new amended penalty, did you want to have Ms. Farmer testify about how the amendedpenalty is reached for the remaining count or not? MR. VINES: I'll be happy to do that, Judge. Yes, I would like to do that. THE COURT: I think it might be helpful. I'mnot sure that she would have to say verymuch, but itmight be helpful since it is a little different from the testimony she presented yesterday.So why don't we do this, I'll ask you, Mr. Vines, to reopen your direct and just have Ms. Farmer explain where the amendedpenalty of $6,100 comes from. It doesn't need to be a repeat of yesterday, just kind of an explanation



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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 of where the FAA started and how it got to 6,100. Is that acceptable to you, Mr. Honeycutt?MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor. THE COURT: All right. Before I turn then to Mr. Vines, Mr. Honeycutt, anypreliminarymatters from the Respondent? MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Vines.

DIRECT EXAMINATION

BY MR. VINES: Q. Good morning, Ms. Farmer. The Administrator has 17 moved to reduce the proposed CP from $12,375 to $6,100 18 which has been grantedby the Court, would you please 19 explain to the Court the general support for the 20 $6,100 CP in light of count two being removed from the 21 complaint? 22 23 24 A. 

### Q. A. As far as how we figured the amount? That's correct. Same type as yesterday. We would go to group 25 three on C-17, B-4. We came up with a moderate,



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 middle figure adding 11,000 and the 825 comes to the 2 

### middle. I don't havemy mathematical, but the one 3 count wouldbe $5,912.50. We added onminimal for the 4 aggravating factors and came up with 6,100. 5 Essentially, we actually cut the current, the original 6 one, 12,375 in half. 7 

### Q. And, in your opinion, the reduced CP to 6,100 8 reasonably support

-- is that supportedby the 9 Administrator's policy and evidence in this case? 10 11 

### 12 13 14 

### 15 16 17 

### 18 19 20 A. Yes. MR. VINES: That's all I have, Judge. THE COURT: Thank you. Mr. Honeycutt, do youhave any cross-examination? MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

BY MR. HONEYCUTT: Q. 

### Ms. Farmer, I've got your notes that you usedthe 21 other night to go over the violation, the civil 22 penaltybased on the violations that were alleged that 23 the gentleman prior to you getting involvedhad come 24 to those conclusions, did you go through your list 25 again last night, like the A, B, Cmitigating factors?



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1 2 A. Q. No, I did not. You didn't go through the mitigating factors, you 3 kind of just took a ballparkmiddle and added a little 4 bit from the aggregate and came to that $6,000 figure? 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 A. Q. I'm not sure what you mean by (inaudible). Well, in this

-- you actually took factor A THE COURT: And, Mr. Honeycutt, when you say in this, we just have a written record, nobody is going to watch you on appeal. It looks like you are holding up the written notes that

were distributed yesterday that Ms. Farmer prepared? MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, your Honor, that's 14 correct. 15 BY MR. HONEYCUTT: 16 Q. Your notes that you wrote the other night, did 17 you sit down as in number one, narrative of violation, 18 an individual (inaudible) deliberate for No. B, C 19 wouldbe level of experience, you didn't go through 20 this when you calculated this new figure? 21 A. This morning? 22 Q. Yes. 23 A. No. 24 Q. The only other thing I would have for Ms. Farmer 25 is, do you recall sitting through this trial, any of



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1 the Aviation Safety Inspectors testifying that they 2 felt the aircraft was unairworthy? 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A. Q. I do not recall. Okay. MR. HONEYCUTT: Nothing else, your Honor. THE COURT: Thank you. Mr. Vines, do you have any redirect? MR. VINES: No, Judge. THE COURT: Okay. Ms. Farmer, thank you verymuch for your testimony. It appears to be complete. It is my understanding that youmay be leaving us around noon. You are welcome to do that or leave

now as you andMr. Vines see fit. Mr. Vines, as I understand it, the FAA is now resting its prima fascia case? MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Honeycutt, would you like to make

an opening statement now, or would you like to go directly into testimony on your responsive case? MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm a little confused. I talked to Mr. Bowen, and I'mnot sure -- I want to do an opening statement, but should I do an



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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 opening statement on testimony or go directly to

cross. Based on that, I'mnot sure if that's

even**~-** THE COURT: Well, you could do an opening statement now because this is the beginning or your responsive case and you reserved it when we first began on Wednesday. You don't need to make an opening statement. They are not required. So you could go directly into presenting your witnesses and then simply do a closing statement if you wanted to do that. Your

case has changed obviouslybecause you are only looking at one violation instead of two, and the amount of the penalty has been decreased. So do you want to take five minutes to think about what's changing for you in terms of your presentation; do you need a few minutes to kind of adjust to that? It looked like it might have been a surprise. MR. HONEYCUTT: It was very surprising, your Honor. I need to reevaluate the strategy, the game plan. THE COURT: Right, well that makes

sense. Would 10 minutes be enough time?



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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 MR. HONEYCUTT: Ten or 15 minutes would be okay. It is at your discretion. THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Vines, do you have any objection to

a 10-minute recess? MR. VINES: No, Judge. THE COURT: Okay. Then let's take a 10-minute recess, and we'll reconvene back at 9:30. 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 15-minutes recess. All parties previously identified have returned to the hearing room. And, Mr. Honeycutt, I'll turn to you first, are you ready to proceed? MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. THE COURT: Okay. Who would you like to call as your first witness? MR. HONEYCUTT: I would like to make an



### For

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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 opening statement, if I could. THE COURT: Very good. Thank you. MR. HONEYCUTT: Your Honor, if it pleases the Court, I would like to start by explaning a little more about Worldwide Aircraft Services and what exactly, the operation, that we do perform. THE COURT: Okay. But before you get into a lot of specifics, typically an opening statement is a brief summary statement of what you are planning to prove. So I want to be sure that you understand that what you say now is not testimony MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. THE COURT: it is not evidence, and I would not be able to use it as part ofmy consideration. So keep that inmind because I know that you may be testifying later, and anything you say now, if you think it is important for your case, would have to be under oath later. MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. THE COURT: Okay. Go ahead. MR. HONEYCUTT: We intend to prove that the FAA and the Government has failed to prove



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 that Worldwide Aircraft Services has operated outside of its General Operation's Manual in contrary to any Federal Regulations. Worldwide Aircraft Services is a On-Demand 135 Air Carrier. We have a very specific niche within that industry, and it is medical repatriation. Hence, our name is JET I.C.U. for doing business

as. JET I.C.U. was founded in 2003, specifically for the Medical Transportation Industry. Worldwide, as a little explanation, we envisioned the company growing and being able to do more things, charter management, aircraft management, potentially a fix-based operations,

so therefore we chose the name Worldwide Aircraft Services as our parent company, and we chose DBA, JET I.C.U, as our medical side. JET I.C.U. has been operating for 11 years with an impeccable record, no blemish on

our safety. We operate on six continents we have issuedby the FAA Operation Specifications to allow us to prettymuch have worldwide operations. The only areas of the world we are not allowed to go to are active-war zones in Iran and that is it prettymuch

-- and Antarctica unfortunately, maybe I can work on that.

For

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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 JET I.C.U. is basically an intensive-care unit that operates in 41,000 feet at 500 miles an hour with a patient. Usually we're picking this patient up outside of the United States to bring them back into the country. We also do a lot of transports for Canadian Government for Canadians that are in the U.S. and traveling throughout Central America in the Caribbean. Due to their socialized health care, they are required to have travel assistance insurance that will assist them to get back into Canada so they can be treated in Canada. The case before you, the trip that is in question, was a repatriation of a Canadian citizen from the Caribbean into Toronto. I plan to go through that trip in its entirety and prove that we did operate within our Operation Specifications. We did follow our General Operation's Manuel and did not violate any FAA Regulations. THE COURT: Thank you. Who would you like to call as your first witness? MR. HONEYCUTT: I will testify first, your Honor.



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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: Okay. Do you want to come up on the stand, and before you sit down, I'll ask you to raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth in this proceeding? MR. HONEYCUTT: I do, your Honor.

MICHAEL HONEYCUTT, afterhaving 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. MR. HONEYCUTT: It is Michael Honeycutt, H-0-N-E-Y-C-U-T-T. THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Honeycutt, would you like the Court to ask you a few preliminary questions, or are you ready to do your narrative statement?MR. HONEYCUTT: I would, your Honor, if you don't mind. THE COURT: Okay.

DIRECT EXAMINATION



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1

- - - - - 2 BY THE COURT: 3 Q. Mr. Honeycutt, you've been serving for the last 4 two days as the lay representative ofWorldwide 5 Aircraft Services, Inc., can you tell us what your 6 relationship is with that business entity? 7 A. I am the president, CEO and 100-percent share 8 holder ofWorldwide Aircraft Services, Incorporated. 9 Q. Andhow long have you been the president and CEO 10 ofWorldwide Aircraft Services? 11 A. President I believe since 2009, vice president 12 from 2003, inception 'till 2009. Since 2009, 13 Presidency and CEO. 14 Q. You made a brief opening statementjust a few 15 minutes ago about the overall function of the company, 16 would you care to thatmake that statement under oath? 17 18 19 A. Q. A. I would, your Honor. Please go ahead. As I stated inmy open statement, Worldwide 20 Aircraft Services is a On-Demand 135 Charter Operator. 21 We currently operate two Learjets on our operation 22 specifications. At the time, in 2009 of the incident, 23 we had four Learjets that we operated. The two 24 primarily that we operated around the world in Eastern 25 Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific realm, and the other



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 two were primary for the Caribbean, SouthAmerica, 2 Central America, and NorthAmerica. 3 

### Since then, we've revamped our fleet andhave 4 replaced itwith one aircraft that we operate with now 5 in the north end and south end and another aircraft 6 that we operate globally. 7 The type of operationwe do is extensive in the 8 fact that we can be airborne from the time we have a 9 call for a patient who moved and get the approval from 10 the assistance or insurance company or the family, the 11 ball starts to where we first have tomake sure the 12 patient is stable for the transport, determine the 13 destination for that patient, arrange for that 14 facility where the patient is supposedto come into. 15 From a medical standpoint on that side, that 16 starts the ball rolling on the operation side, where 17 

### in the world are we goingto go. For example, are we 18 go to go 19 20 

### 21 22 23 Q. 

### A. Q. A. Q. 

### I'm sorry, sir, can you slow down a littlebit

-- I'm sorry.

-- for the court reporter. Sorry. So you say you needto arrange for the medical 24 facility andwhat else do you need to do for an 25 individual-medical flight?



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1 A. 

### The flight is split into two parts, between the 2 medical department and the aviation side. We commonly 3 

### call that dispatching. Ifwe needto have any landing 4 permission in certain countries outside of the states, 5 we have to get privileges to fly in foreign air space. 6 For example, Cuba, we need a permit number to fly over 7 Cuba or Jamaica. 8 

### I'mgoing to use Jamaica as an example. We can 9 say ourpatient is in Kingston, Jamaica andwe need to 10 take that patient to Toronto, once themedical team 11 gets the assessment and determines the patient is 12 airworthy andwe can transport start, the aviation 13 side steps in, starts the permittingprocess for the 14 overflight, arranging for the handling in customs in 15 Jamaica, putting the teamtogether from an operation's 16 side. 17 Inmy position as operations, I'll let the 18 dispatch know who the two pilots are going tobe based 19 on their current status of the current qualified for 20 the transport. We select the aircraft based on the 21 same criteria that is airworthy, that it is not 22 (inaudible), no inspections, ormaintenance wouldbe 23 required. 24 Once we determine the crew, the aircraft, and the 25 medical team, they are dispatched into the office, and



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 at that point, the trip is airborne, usuallytwo hours 2 from go. We go down andpickup the patient and 3 transport that patient in route to Toronto. I can 4 speakmore specificallyabout the trip in question. 5 Q. 

### Well, why don't you first finish your overall 6 explanation of what your company does. You indicated 7 that you fly in six continents in your opening 8 statement? 9 

### 10 11 

### 12 A. Q. A. Q. 

### Uh-huh. Yes? Yes. Tell us how high you fly, how fast, those 13 particulars that you mentioned in your opening. 14 A. 

### Yes, ma'am, our aircraft, the Learjet, the reason 15 why we prettymuch chose the Learjet Industry, is 16 prettymuch the Learjet Industry is for the Medical 17 Transport Industry. 18 One of the reasons is durability, its speed, its 19 range, and its abilityto cruise at 41 to 43,000 feet 20 in the skywith an average of 500 miles anhour. The 21 two global airplanes have 2,400 nautical, close to a 22 3000-mile range. It gives us a specific (inaudible) 23 as well as departing from NorthAmerica into Europe in 24 one stop. 25 Q. 

### And you have mentionedthat you are a Medical



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 Repatriation Service? 2 3 4 A. Q. A. Yes, ma'am. What does that mean? Medical Repatriation versus Medical Evacuation, a 5 typical scenario is an evacuation is you are stranded 6 and you need to get to the quickest medical treatment 7 available to you, then that's an evacuation. You 8 would evacuate someone andput them into a treatment 9 center as close as you could. 10 Medical Repatriation is you are probably in a 11 medical facility, but you need a higher level of 12 treatment or youwant to return to your home country 13 for treatment in your home country. So we'll repatch 14 you back to your choice of hospital. 15 Q. The violation in which your company has been 16 charged in this case, is alleged to have occurred on 17 or about May 3, 2009? 18 19 A. Q. Yes, rna'am. Can you tell us what happened on or about May 3, 20 2009 that you think is important in your defense 21 against this violation? 22 A. Yes, ma'am, I can. The trip in question, we got 23 the call, don't have the exact notes on it, but 24 typically we'll get the call the daybefore 25 MR. VINES: Judge?



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 2 THE COURT: Yes. MR. VINES: I hate to interrupt, but 3 can youjust tell me what exhibits he is 4 referencing so I can follow along. 5 BY MR. VINES: 6 Q. Mr. Honeycutt, are you looking at exhibits right 7 now? 8 A. I am, your Honor, I apologize. I'mlooking at 9 Exhibit C-4A and B, the aircraft flight sheet. 10 Q. Let me take a quick look at that. If you start 11 to look at a different exhibit, please let us know. 12 13 14 A. Q. A. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. So the trip in question is May 3, 2009. May 2nd 15 we would have gotten the call from an assistance 16 company that they had a Canadian on the Island of 17 Dominica, the Easternpart of the Caribbean, and 18 wanted to repatriate that patient back into Toronto. 19 Given the socializedmedicine in Canada, a lot of 20 times we'll experience that they have to have that 21 patient at the hospital by a certain time or they'll 22 lose that bedto someone else. So we had to have the 23 patient into Torontobefore 6 p.m. 24 During the flight planning and figuring the route 25 of the trip, we realized to do that, to accomplish



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1 that trip in that time frame, we would have to depart 2 ourbase in Brooksville, Florida by 0800 Universal 3 UGC, which is universal time corrected, which means it 4 is 4 

### a.m. local time here on the East Coast. Our 5 6 7 8 9 

### flight logs run inUniversal time because it 

### is constant, wherever you are at in the world, you have to do theminus orplus. So onMay 2ndwhen we got the call and the

was confirmed, thepatient was stable for the 10 transport, I 

### elected to put Brandon Plasm, the just

trip

11 Captain, and Eric Price on the trip. We chose N90LJ, 12 the aircraft. I 

### notified the crew of their departure 13 and their estimatedbeforepreflight. 14 Since the trip was going to be over 15 nine-and-a-half hours of flying with three stops, we 16 were limitedunder 135 that we have a 10-hour flight 17 time limitation, and we have 14 hours of duty time to 18 accomplish that from the time we show up at our 19 airport to begin our duty day. 20 Operating outside of the United States in San 21 Juan, Dominica, and the Bahamas, it is unlike the 22 United States. As we say, five minutes is really an 23 hour. So trying to prevent our crew from having a 24 duty-and-time issue, I electedtoput the aircraft 25 onto the fuel stand, fuel the aircraft for them, do as



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1 much of the preflight that I could afford them. By 2 doing that, I reduced their show time by 30 minutes 3 where the aircraft wouldbe in a ready, alert stance. 4 So we did that, the crew showed up on duty at 5 0730 on time, on the sheet there in the middle left. 6 Captain went about filing the flight plans, getting 7 the notes, making sure the route of flight and 8 everything. It was his duty and responsibilityto do 9 that. 10 As I seen, he went about his duties and 11 responsibilities of the preflight of the aircraft, 12 getting it ready for departure. We have, at the 13 facility we were located at the time, we had a 14 ground-power unit which is an external unit that has 15 an umbilical cord that plugs into the aircraft. 16 It supplies power so you can turn the batteries 17 and the avionics on and power up the GPS and not 18 delete the ship's batteries, and at night, you are 19 usingmore power at 4 in the morning withhaving the 20 lights on, landing lights, testing all the lights. So 21 it was imperative that the GP be available for him. 22 This GPU, in particular, had what we call a phase 23 converter inside the building. We actuallyhad to 24 send all the power out for the distance that it was 25 away from the building. We had to shut off that phase



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 inverter and turn the GPU off. So Mr. Plas, when he 2 exited the aircraft, he got back in and departed the 3 flight. The flight was uneventful. He took off, flew 4 two-and-a-half hours, landed in San Juan. 5 

### Again (inaudible) second of operation. Our team 6 operates, for lack of a better analogy, like a Nascar 7 pit crew. Everyone has a position, everyone has a job 8 to do, and when the (inaudible) they are out the door 9 and everyone is doing their job and doing it at a pace 10 that will allow them to get back in and airborne as 11 quickly as they can, because in the Medical Industry, 12 they say time is tissue. So time is critical for 13 every transport. 14 So upon landing in San Juan, Mr. Plas got out to 15 outbound customs from San Juan and

-- 16 Q. 

### AndMr, Honeycutt, I'm going to stop you for a 17 moment, there has been a variety of different acronyms 18 or initials for different landing sites. Can you 19 identify those particular initials for us, the TDPD, 20 MYAM, and so forth. 21 

### A. I can, your Honor. If you look at Exhibit C-4 in 22 column one, BKV is our Base of Operation, which stands 23 for Brooksville is the airport code. TJSJ, just 24 beside that is a four letter IKM code, which is 25 International Civil Aviation Organization. TJSJ is



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 designated to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Line two, you 2 have TDPD, which is the identifier for Dominica in the 3 

### Caribbean. From Dominica we went toMYAM, which is 4 Marsh Harbour, the Bahamas, and then fromMarsh 5 Harbour into CYYZ is Toronto, CanadaAirport. 6 7 Q. A. 

### Thankyou. You're welcome. Again, leaving Dominica, I'm 8 sorry, leaving San Juan we landed in Dominica, and it 9 looks like we're on the ground for one hour in San 10 Juan and touched down in Dominica at 1236. The 11 medical teamwent to the hospital or the clinic on the 12 Island of Dominica to retrieve the patient. The crew 13 went about fueling the aircraft and flight planning 14 again. 15 

### I need to stepback, in San Juan and Dominica, 16 bothplaces, the crew usedthe ground-power unit at 17 those locations to power the aircraft while they 18 fueled the aircraft and loaded the GPS data base for 19 the next lay. 20 They departed Dominica a little over an hour and 21 went to Marsh Harbour. Marsh Harbour was a 22 three-and-a-half hour flight for them. They touched 23 down inMarsh Harbour, again exitedthe aircraft, my 24 crew did, asked for fuel, the groundpower, and 25 continued to do his flight panning and his



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 international customs. 2 They departedMarsh Harbour at 1806 for Toronto. 3 Marsh Harbourbeing the incident in question with the 4 GPU receptacle, Brandon Plas, the Captain at the time, 5 calledme onhis departure from Marsh Harbour and said 6 that the lineman approachedhim about the receptacle 7 for the GPU not going into the GPU receptacle on the 8 aircraft. 9 He indicatedthat he didn't know if it was the 10 plug that didn't fit right

-- I'm sorry, the plug 11 going in or if that plug hadbent, but he informedme 12 the aircraft was safe for flight. He had done an 13 inspection of the GPU, and in his opinion, didnot 14 need the GPU for start and elected to proceed on with 15 the flight without having a groundpower connected in 16 Marsh Harbour due to having the patient onboard and 17 wanting to continue with the trip. 18 Upon arrival into Toronto, they unloadedthe 19 patient, the patient and themedical team in route to 20 the hospital. Brandon asked the line serviceman in 21 Toronto to hook the ground-power unit up to the 22 aircraft andturn it on to see ifhe didhave, in 23 fact, a problemwith the ground-power unit. 24 In his statement, you will find that he did not 25 

### have a problem. The GPU worked fine. So at that



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 point, Mr. P1as went off duty and completed that day's 2 mission with the only incident being the Marsh 3 Harbour, pretty much uneventful. When we have any 4 issues that arise, in our General Operation's Manual, 5 we do have a form calledMX-02. I don't thinkwe have 6 the actual form withme. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 MR. HONEYCUTT: Mr. Vines, you don't have an exhibit that actually has the form, the MX-02? THE COURT: Well, you want to askme if I'mwilling to let you do that. MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm sorry, your Honor. THE COURT: I'll ask Mr. Vines to see if he has one, but you can continue with your testimony.MR. HONEYCUTT: Okay. 17 BY THE COURT: 18 Q. I want to ask you to back up for a moment, you 19 may have recalled that there was testimony yesterday 20 about how many planes that you owned and operated in 21 the year 2009. 22 23 A. Q. Yes, ma'am. Can you -- you had indicated that in 2009, you 24 had only four Learjets instead of six, is that your 25 testimony?



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 A. Yes, your Honor. I think there might be a 2 discrepancy. We have four aircrafts and over six 3 pilots. 4 5 Q. A. Okay. In the determination that Ms. Farmer was using 6 that tablet in the C-17 Exhibit, it talks of having 7 sixpilots to only 49 pilots. We, at the time, 8 operated four aircrafts and I would say six-to-eight 9 10 11 12 pilots. I can't give you an exact number. 

### Q. Are you one of the pilots? A. I am, your Honor. 

### Q. Okay. You've heard testimony about how the FAA 13 believes that Mr. Plas

-- or you should have insured 14 that a mechanical write up occurred after the lineman 15 inMarsh Harbour advisedMr. Plas that he thought the 16 GPU had a defect, what is your testimony or response, 17 if any, to that? 18 A. My testimony is that, your Honor, the captain of 19 the aircraft has the ultimate responsibility that the 20 aircraft is in a safe and airworthy condition. To 21 that extent, he cannot determine if the aircraft, from 22 a maintenance standpoint, from a scheduled 23 maintenance, is in an airworthy condition. The 24 Director of Maintenance issues an MX-01 is actually 25 our document. It is the aircraft status sheet.

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1 

### On the aircraft status sheet, MX-01, it listed 2 that aircraft, it lists that that aircraft in 3 particular, whichever aircraft itbe, 90LJ or 4 whatever, it lists that particular aircraft by serial 5 

### number. Inspection items coming due scheduledby 6 total time on the aircraft, by cycles, which are 7 landing gear and or date. 8 So the captain, once it is dispatched out to the 9 aircraft, he takes what we call the aircraft flight 10 canwhich contains themost current MX-01 as the 11 latest flight log and the captainwill then determine 12 from the last flight, they'll look at the aircraft's 13 total time in cycles and look at the MX-01 andmake 14 sure that his day's mission of nine-and-a-half hours 15 will not overfly either that time, that cycle, or that 16 date that is on the MX-01. 17 

### Once that is the Director of Operations 18 responsibility, tomake sure the aircrafts are 19 compliant on theirmaintenance cycle. The captain 20 becomes, at that point, determines if the airplane is 21 airworthy from his preflight and walk around of the 22 aircraft. 23 As I discussed withMr. Singleton yesterday, it 24 is confusing when you have the words discrepancy, 25 irregularity, and damage. As we used the example of



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1 tires of a discrepancy, one individual may consider a 2 tire to be bald to the point of not safe for the 3 flight and would write that up as a discrepancy and 4 one individual may feel that the tire is of tolerance. 5 If the individual who feels that the tires are 6 not tolerant, he should fill out the MX-01, and then 7 he seeks a maintenance technician, mechanic to come 8 out and use his reference ofmaterials and that would 9 be the tire manufacturer of the Airplane Maintenance 10 Manual to determine of the tire within limits. 11 That discrepancy interpretation within the 12 industry has not a black-and-white line that you can 13 determine. The captain is the one who ultimately 14 makes the decisions on discrepancies and 15 irregularities. Our MX-02 form is for the captain to 16 indicate any irregularity or any discrepancy that he 17 feels needs to be addressed by the mechanic. 18 Q. There's been testimony presentedby the FAA in 19 its case in chief that the captain consulted with you, 20 inparticular, about this particular GPU problem and 21 the FAA's position, as I understand it in its case in 22 chief, is that the Respondent, your company, is 23 ultimately responsible, what is your position about 24 that, if any? 25 A. When you say that we're ultimately responsible



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1 for 2 3 Q. A. For anymaintenanceproblems that arise. We are responsible. Again, the captain of the 4 ship is in command and is ultimately responsible for 5 his ship and his passengers. As his discretion, he 6 must determine, with everything available to him, the 7 Aircraft Flight Manual, the checklist, and that nature 8 that we use, is the aircraft in an airworthy 9 condition. 10 If he does not feel that it is, he then writes a 11 discrepancy up, and at that point seeks for 12 maintenance to be done. We do hold our -- we our 13 responsible for the safety of the flight and the 14 aircraft. We ultimatelyhold that responsibility, but 15 this flight, inparticular, we are confident that the 16 aircraft was in an airworthy condition. 17 The captainmade an assessment of the GPU 18 receptacle, felt itwas not an issue for the start and 19 continuous of that flight. He didn't need it. Upon 20 arrival at his destination, he went (inaudible) this 21 patient once admission from that standpoint and was 22 completed, he elected to troubleshoot the problemthat 23 he had had inMarsh Harbour, andbyhaving the lineman 24 plug in the GPU, turn it on, and have a positive 25 outflow, he concluded that it was a normally operating



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### 33 

### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 GPU. He couldn't, at thatpoint, determine what the 2 issue was in the Bahamas, and itwas a non issue for 3 himat that point because the aircraft was operating 4 functional and normal. 5 Q. 

### The FAA's case in chief appears to indicate-- 6 there's a concern expressedbythe FAA that subsequent 7 repair to the GPU, power unit, and the bracketing 8 around the power unit indicates that was a problem and 9 that problem arose quickly, essentially after May 3, 10 2009 since the repair was performed onMay 20, 2009, 11 what is your position, if any, about that evidence 12 that was presented? 13 A. Well I believe that evidence is referenced to the 14 second count of the complaint, which has now been 15 withdrawn, that damage had occurred and an entry had 16 

### failed to have been done. The question the issue 17 in count one in question is that they alleged that 18 there was a discrepancy of the GPU receptacle, and the 19 captain, at that point, shouldhave filled out an 20 MX-01 andby failing to fill out, I'm sorry, anMX-02, 21 by failing to fill out that sheet, thatwe were in 22 violation of our General Operation's Manual and 23 therefore ultimately inviolation of 135.23. 24 Q. 

### Given the fact that you also knew, because of the 25 conversation youhad withMr. Plas on May 3, 2009 of



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 thepotential GPU problem, how is it, in your opinion, 2 that you do not share that responsibility for a 3 maintenance entry independent of what Captain Plas may 4 ormay not have been? 5 A. 

### As Director of Operations, I ultimatelybear the 6 responsibility of the whole company. Ultimately, the 7 overall of the company and as the president as well, 8 the Director of Maintenance is responsible from the 9 maintenance side of the house, but more so from a 10 compliance and continued airworthiness condition of 11 scheduledmaintenance, I do bear responsibilitywith 12 Captain Plas, but I was trying to express in the 13 overview of our company, we're not a typical airline 14 or a typical 135. 15 We operate in some pretty far off remote areas. 16 Captains are doing their own flight planning, their 17 own meteorology commission. Looking at that, we have 18 to take into the commission of the runways we're going 19 to be landing on. For example, Bahamas, a lot of 20 their runways are made out of coral, notAsphalt, not 21 smooth runways like we have here in the United States. 22 Africa has dirt strips in some cases. 23 There is a lot that goes on in the dispatch, 24 inside the cockpit with the crew, and on the ground. 25 So our crews are trained and I'mveryproudto say, I



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 wouldput our guys against any airline ormilitary 2 crew if you give them a spot on the globe and you tell 3 them to get there, these guys evaluate everything. 4 An airline captain that comes out to the airport, 5 he's handed his flight plan. He's handedhis route 6 that has been determinedmonths and years ahead of 7 time. He walks out andhis ship is safe, andhe moves 8 fromAto B. Alot of the work is done for him. When 9 you get a phone call at 2:00 in themorning and you 10 are askedto go pick up, you know, a patient, there is 11 a lot of planning and thought that goes into it. 12 I stand a hundredpercent behindCaptain Plas, 13 his decision that the aircraft did not have damage, 14 did not have a discrepancy, that he had to, at that 15 point, stop the flight and get an immediatemechanical 16 interpretation. 17 

### That is provenby Captain Plas' actions in 18 Toronto when he requested the GPU tobe plugged in. 19 He founded that had the GPU workedproperly. As Mr. 20 Singleton's testimony yesterday, he said, ''How would 21 you test the GPU receptacle that you felt may not be 22 operatingproperly'', he said, ''plug in a GPU." 23 Q. 

### Okay. This GPU problem arose when the crewwas 24 in landing status at Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas? 25 

### A. Yes, ma'am.



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1 Q. 

### And was this particular landing strip in the 2 continental of the United States or in a different 3 territory? 4 A. 

### No, Marsh Harbour is 80 miles northeast of 5 Nassau. Nassau being 180 off of Fort Lauderdale to 6 the east. 7 Q. 

### Is there anything else that you would like to 8 talk about in terms of theMay 3, 2009 incident before 9 we talk about the penalty that has beenproposed? 10 11 

### A. No, rna'am. 

### I don't believe there is anything other than, you know, to continue to go over. I 

### 12 believe that our crewperformed above andbeyond and 13 did an excellent transport. The missionwas completed 14 successfully. He usedthe General Operation's Manual. 15 In fact, Mr. Plas calledme, but he necessarily 16 didn't callme. I was in the office at the time, and 17 I picked up the phone andhe is callingbackto 18 dispatch saying we're fueled. We're getting ready to 19 take off. We'll be in Toronto in two hours and 48 20 minutes. He wouldprobably say three hours, but I 21 happened to answer the phone thatmorning, I believe. 22 Brandon, just FYI, I had this, not sure its not an 23 

### issue because we didn't need it. I'min route. I'll 24 let you know when I get to Toronto. 25 I put that, you know, trust as any airline would



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 or air force wouldput him in their command to 2 maintainhis ship in the most airworthy condition of 3 his ability. 4 Q. 

### Let's talk a littlebit about the fine. The 5 proposed fine at this point is $6,100 for the 6 remaining one violation that is alleged, do youhave 7 anything you would like to talk about in terms of the 8 FAA's calculation of that proposed fine? 9 

### A. Well, I askedMs. Farmer earlier if she had gone 10 through themitigating, aggravating factors in 11 thinking specifically of only the violation of failure 12 

### to follow the general operation procedure. I 

### 13 personallybelieve that the $6,000 figure is an 14 excessive figure. 15 For an Operator with our ability, our Operation 16 Specifications issuedby the Federal Aviation with an 17 impeccable record, an unblemished record, your Honor. 18 This is why I'mhere. This is a blemish that I do not 19 feel that our companyhas caused and is due a 20 violation. That's why I'mvigorously defendingmy 21 company and our captains. This is not a cover up. 22 THE COURT: Why don't we do this, I did 23 24 25 

### sayto you at the end of your first narrative that you wouldhave a chance to go and talkto your assistant, Mr. Bowen, anything that you need



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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 to address. It may be a good time for a quick morning recess. How much time would you like to have, five or 10 minutes? MR. HONEYCUTT: Ten, your Honor. THE COURT: We'll take a short recess. We're off the record at this point.

(Whereupon, a brief recess was taken.)

THE COURT: We're back on the record in the matter ofWorldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. This is Docket No. FAA-2013-0045. We've reconvened after a eight-minute morning recess. All parties previously identifiedhave returned to the hearing room, and Mr. Honeycutt has reseated himself in the witness chair. Mr. Honeycutt, you are still under oath. MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am. 22 BY THE COURT: 23 Q. Do you have anything, in addition to your 24 narrative statement, that you would like to add now 25 before we turn to Mr. Vines for cross-examination?

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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 A. I would, your Honor. You spoke earlier asking 2 about the receptacle being replaced. We don't have a 3 log entry. The aircraft has been returned to that 4 facility. The owner of the aircraft has the logbooks 5 now. I could obtain it, but the aircraft went to 6 Brandis Aircraft who owns the aircraft. Worldwide 7 leased the aircraft from him, and per our agreement, 8 they own their ownmaintenance facility andmaintain 9 Learjets. 10 When I went into the facility to return the 11 aircraft for a scheduled, I want to say B check it 12 was, which is a 600-hour airframe-and-power-plant 13 check, the owners elected to put a new receptacle in 14 and addthat doubler to beef it up andmake it 15 stronger. 16 It wasn't, we flew the aircraft to run this 17 course specifically and it needed a new receptacle. 18 wanted that to come out. There would be a log entry 19 reflecting the scheduledmaintenance that went along 20 with that entry, but no log entry was obtained. 21 Q. When you say there wouldbe a log entry, that 22 would be by Brandis instead of your company? A. Yes, ma'am. I

23 24 

### Q. And when was the aircraft returned to Brandis; do 25 you recall?



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1 A. Yes, ma'am, in Exhibit C-4C. Again, the 2 identifying codes at the top, the aircraft left 3 Brooksville's base, went to-- I don't know offhand, 4 probably somewhere in Tennessee maybe and then from 5 there into TAZ, which is Taylorville, Illinois. 6 Brandis Aircraft facility is in Taylorville, Illinois. 7 8 Q. A. And this is on C-4C as in cat? Yes, that's the exhibit, ma'am. It shows the 9 flight log for the aircraft for that day ended up 10 Taylorville, and then if you'll refer to 11 Q. I'm sorry, can you hold up your C-4C and showme 12 where it shows that. 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. I have C-4E as in egg is what you are showingme; 15 is that right? 16 17 18 A. Q. A. I'm sorry, yes. Okay, that makes a difference. Thank you. Yes, ma'am, and then if you'll refer to the log 19 entryExhibit C-10, C-11, your Honor. The maintenance 20 entry for the addition of the

-- or new replacement of 21 the GPU receptacle and bracket. Then it says filled 22 in with the doubler. May 20, 2009 is when that was 23 completed. 24 Q. But turning back to C-4E as in egg, can you tell 25 us what date your company returned the leased aircraft



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1 to Brandis? 2 A. On May 14, 2009, N90LJ departed Brooksville and 3 stopped at Juliette, x-ray, November, and then 4 continued into TAZ, which is Taylorville, Illinois 5 6 Q. A. Thank you.

-- for scheduledmaintenance. During that 7 maintenance, Brandis Aircraft elected to replace the 8 GPU receptacle, mounting bracket, andput a doubler on 9 to reinforce that GPU receptacle. That was completed 10 on May 20th, six days after it arrived in Brandis. 11 

### Q. Anything else you would like to add to your 12 narrative? 13 14 A. Just that that was electedby the owner of Brandis to do that. It was not requested. It was not 15 an itemthat needed to be done there. They chose to 16 do that at their own discretion as the owner. With 17 that, I would have nothing else. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q. Okay. THE COURT: Mr. Vines, do you have any cross-examination? MR. VINES: Yes, Judge.

CROSS-EXAMINATION



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 BY MR. VINES: 2 3 4 Q. A. Q. Mr. Honeycutt, do you hold anAP Certificate? No. What about, to your knowledge, does Captain Plas 5 hold this certificate? 6 7 A. Q. No, sir, not at the time of 2009. Okay. I want to ask you, you testified earlier, 8 if a pilot documents a discrepancy in the MX-02 form, 9 then a mechanic is sought out to inspect the issue, 10 did I understand your testimony correctly? 11 A. It is the

-- yeah, I would have to read it back 12 exactly, but the MX-02 is a form that is for the pilot 13 or first officer to fill out a discrepancy that he has 14 found with the aircraft. 15 Q. Okay. And you testified earlier that your 16 business requires flights to all across the globe, do 17 you have, I guess mechanics employed by your company 18 posted at all of these cities your aircrafts fly to? 19 20 A. No, I don't have mechanics posted around the world. I have a organization that I work with that 21 their specialty is, if you were to break down in a 22 certain part of the world, they have resources at 23 their disposal. They'll know that you would need an 24 FAA CertifiedMechanic. For example, if you are in 25 Turkey in Istanbul and you have an incident and an



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

1 issue that you need resolved, that's called 2 maintenance out away from base. 3 To do maintenance away from base, you would 4 ultimately have to have a -- it is very complicated. 5 You would have to have a FAA CertifiedMechanic who 6 may be a Turkish citizenwith a EASA Mechanic Engineer 7 License, but he would also have to have a FAA issued 8 certificate orhe wouldhave to work for a 145, I 9 believe. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Q. A. A Part 145? I'm looking toMs. Farmer for help. THE COURT: She can't help you. MR. HONEYCUTT: I know, your Honor, I apologize.It is a designation of a facility outside of the United States that has the capabilityand approvedby the FAA to work on the aircraft. Then, if it is just an individual who just has a mechanic license, then we get into the issue of, well he has to be on a drug-testing programto meet our compliance. It is very 22 intense when we are outside of the country. 23 BY MR. VINES: 24 Q. So let's go through that, you saidyou contracted 25 the organization, what organization is that?



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1 2 

### A. Richard

-- I would have to

-- Richard Gardner. forget the name of the organization. I might be able 3 to find it inmy cellphone. 4 5 6 7 8 THE COURT: Do you want that information? MR. VINES: I don't need that information, Judge. THE COURT: Thank you. 9 BY MR. VINES: 10 Q. It ismy understanding you work for an I

11 organization so that helps you obtainmechanics if you 12 are airborne and you are in other cities or other 13 countries and you needmaintenance on these aircrafts, 14 is that the gist of it? 15 A. Their organization is a resource that I would 16 use. As their resources, they know where there's FAA 17 registeredmechanics. Depending on the nature of the 18 issue, if it is an engine issue, then youmay need to 19 find someone from a different country. 20 You know, so these guys are basically a resource 21 that we would call and saythis is our issue, and they 22 will give you options that youmaybe able to use. 23 Q. Okay. So for example, you saidTurkey, let's say 24 your aircraft is in Turkey and itbreaks down, you 25 contact Richard Gardner's organization, can you walk



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1 me through the steps? 2 

### A. Well, it is a littlemore than that. I'll give 3 you an example. We just went to Iceland, andwe had a 4 flat tire. We blew a tire on departure. Now, at that 5 point, the captain stops, you know of course stops the 6 aircraft, the Director ofMaintenance

-- the captain 7 will follow his procedures. His procedures, through 8 his GOM Manual and throughhis experience, will call 9 back to operations. 10 So we have an incident, ifwe have a patient on 11 board or a passenger, you know, we have to get 12 everyone stabilized and secured. Then the captain at 13 that point assesses the situation, callsback to the 14 Director of Operations and says I need to speak to the 15 Director ofMaintenance. We have an issue here. 16 The Director of Operations will bebrought into 17 this situation, and once the situation is secured 18 where its at and operations working withthose people 19 will determine a fix or an exit strategy for them, 20 either using resources in a country or -- which I have 21 elected to domore of, is transportmy teamtomy 22 medical, my mechanics, Brian and Tony to the 23 situation, that way I know I'm covered frommultiple 24 angles. 25 Q. 

### I want to direct your attention to Exhibit C-11,



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1 which is the maintenance-record entry dated 2009. 2 3 4 5 6 7 A. 

### C-11? Q. Yes, 

### sir. A. Yes, sir, 

### I have it. Q. 

### Kurt Handing, do you know Kurt Handing? A. 

### Only inpassing. I know Kurt works in Brandis. I don't know ifhe stillworks there. I haven't been 8 there in about a year. Kurt's specialtywas sheet 9 medal. He worked for --working on Douglas F16's in 10 St. Louis. He has a specialtyin sheet medal. 11 12 Q. A. 

### Douglas is an aircraftmanufacturer? Yes, sir. His backgroundwas a fabrication of 13 that aircraft. 14 Q. 

### When you said earlier that its become Worldwide's 15 practice to transport your own maintenance teamto 16 other cities to inspect or work on your aircraft, when 17 didWorldwide begin that policy? 18 A. 

### Its been ourpolicy since '07. My business 19 philosophy in having down this, having flow Learjets 20 around the world, any time you can take a middleman 21 out of something that can cause you trouble or slow 22 something down andmaintenance being an issue that we 23 try to do all ourselves, I don't like to send out, 24 especiallyin a foreign country. 25 You are relying on those people, and I don't



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1 know, having unable to inspect these facilities, I 2 haven't had a chance to check their facility, what 3 type of equipment they are using, is itmodern, old, 4 you know. So a lot of that plays in, but the area and 5 the situation also plays into account. 6 If you have a patient on board, you know, now I 7 have to put a patient in a hospital in a Foreign 8 country. There is a lot involved. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. VINES: I don't have anything else, Judge. THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Vines. Mr. Honeycutt, this is an opportunity for you to meet with your assistant and discuss things with your assistant and then come back for

a brief redirect narrative. I'm looking at the clock. It looks like we could take another 10 to 15 minutes, would you prefer 10 or 15 minutes? MR. HONEYCUTT: Fifteen would be great, your Honor. THE COURT: Okay. Then we'll recess until 11:00. Did you have a question first? MR. HONEYCUTT: I just want to confirm that the count of the violation is count one only, the tear and the damage is no longer an issue, the skin issue, because Brian Fanning I



### For

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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 would call to testify specifically, but I would not need to do that if we're just talking about the failure to document under the Maintenance MX-02 form. THE COURT: Mr. Vines, would you confirm that? MR. VINES: Judge, the Agency's count referenced in the complaint, the Agency is essentially arguing count one, which is paragraphs three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

as well as 12A. The allegations there, I'll read them. THE COURT: Well you don't need to read everything to us. We all can read ourselves, but essentially there is a request from the Respondent's lay representative as to defining the scope. Can you justbriefly summarize the scope? MR. VINES: Sure, Judge. The scope is that there was a ground-power-unit receptacle that was damaged that was on Aircraft N90LJ that the Worldwide General Operation's Manual required

a documentation of that damage and that the flight crew was aware of that damage and did not document it.



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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: Does that help, Mr. Honeycutt?MR. HONEYCUTT: Yes, ma'am, it does. THE COURT: Okay. Then we can go off the record for our 15-minute recess.

(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 15-minute recess. All parties previously identified have returned to the hearing room, and

we have two new people in the observers area. Mr. Honeycutt, are you planning to provide any further narrative testimony after cross-examination? MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. THE COURT: Okay. Are the two people in the observers area part of your responsive case? MR. HONEYCUTT: They were, your Honor, to be called as witnesses, but I'm not going to call them.



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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: Okay. Are you planning to rest your responsive case? MR. HONEYCUTT: I am prepared to rest, your Honor. THE COURT: Okay. So noted. Mr. Vines, would you like to make a closing argument, if so, are you ready to do so? MR. VINES: Judge, I would like to make

a closing argument. I talked with the Respondent

on break, andwe agreed, if you would oblige us, 30 minutes to prepare for closing arguments. THE COURT: Okay. So it is about 11:05

now. Do you want to take an early short lunch or you want

-- how do you want to do that? MR. VINES: I would not be opposed to that. MR. HONEYCUTT: Yeah, that would be fine, your Honor. THE COURT: Okay. Right now we can

come back either at noon or 12:15, depending on what your pleasure is. Mr. Vines. MR. VINES: I'll refer to the Court. THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt. MR. HONEYCUTT: 12:15 wouldbe good.



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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: Okay. Why don't we do that and that way you can have a quickbite to eat and also prepare your closings. With that, we can go off the record, and I'll see you back here at 12:15.

(Whereupon, a brief recess was taken.)

THE COURT: We're back on the record in thematter of Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. This is Docket No. FAA-2013-0045. We've reconvened after an early lunch

recess. All parties previously identified have returned to the courtroom for presentation of closing argument. Generally, and we didn't talk about this before how much time to take, generally people typically take about 20 minutes or so. You can take less than that if you want. If you go a little over, that's fine to. Mr. Vines, are you ready to present closing for the FAA? MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. THE COURT: Okay. You may proceed. I should have all the exhibits up on



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 witness desk. If you need to use them or refer to them, they are right here. MR. VINES: Judge, the Respondent, Worldwide Aircraft Services as amended in paragraph two of the complaint which alleges that the Respondent was and is currently a holder of Air Carrier Certificate No. W50A880L. The Agency has shown by the testimony of Inspector Kahler, Donahue, and Singleton, as well as Worldwide Aircraft owner Mike Honeycutt THE COURT: I'm sorry, could you speak up just a little bit, please. MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. The Agency has shown by the testimony of Inspector Kahler, Donahue, and Singleton, as well as Worldwide Aircraft Mike Honeycutt, as well as Exhibit C-3C, which is Worldwide's Operation Specifications, that the Respondent is authorized to conduct operations under Part 135 under Federal Aviation Regulations, and therefore subject to the Regulations set forth in Part 135, including section 135.21A. The Respondent has admitted paragraph three of the complaint, which states on or about



### For

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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 May 3, 2009, Worldwide operated Civil Aircraft N90LJ on Learjet 250 on a flight from TDPD, which is Dominica to MYAM, Marsh Harbour, under Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. As to part four of the complaint which the Respondent denied, theAgency has shown that after the flight referenced in paragraph three of the complaint, the flight crew, including Mr. Brandon Plas, learned that the ground-power-unit receptacle was damaged. SpecificallyBrandon Plas testified that he operated the flight from TDPD to MYAM as the captain or also referred to as pilot in command. During Plas' testimony, he referenced Exhibit 8A and 8B. That exhibit is a statement that he wrote and signed on June 8, 2009, less than one month after the May 3, 2009 flight from TDPD to MYAM. Captain Plas testified that his statement was accurate and correctly documents the events that occurred onMay 3, 2009. Captain Plas' statement states that upon landing inMYAM, he noticed the pins inside the GPU receptacle

were bent which prevented him fromplugging the GPU into the aircraft.



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 Plas also stated that when he realized that he failed to disconnect the GPU unit from the aircraft before taxiing the aircraft and taking off from Brooksville, Plas stated that he contacted the Director of Operations, Mike Honeycutt, to informhim of that issue. The Respondent has admittedparagraphs five and six of the complaint, which references the Respondent's General Operation's Manual, section E-3 and F-1 of the manual required the Respondent to complete an aircraft-discrepancy form documenting anymechanical discrepancy or irregularity in aircraft discrepancy formMX-02. As to what damage constitutes the mechanical discrepancy, Inspector Singleton testified as an expert in General-Airframe-and Power-Plant Maintenance. Inspector Singleton testified that any anomalywith the aircraft constitutes a discrepancy, including the bent prongs inside the GPU receptacle. Judge, I point out that Inspector Singleton's testimony is consistent with the findings in the case of the FAA versus Sundance Air, Docket No. FAA-2004-17789. SundanceAir, a Part 135 Operator like Worldwide Aircraft, argued



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 that an inoperative aircraft GPS and radar was not a major cause of concern and thus not worthy of proper log entries. However that argument was objectedbyAdministrator Law Judge, Richard Goodwin. Deciding Administrator B. Hartisan in TSP Order EA3997, Judge Goodwin found that, "Any deviation from normal functioning of the aircraft component, no matter how slight ormomentary, constitutes a mechanical irregularity. Mechanical irregularities require a logbook entry. Administrative Law Judge Goodwin even went on to say even a small worry, warrants a record, "The regulations do not distinguish between degrees of irregularities. Full and accurate record keeping is critical. It is the (inaudible) end of safety." THE COURT: What page are you quoting from from this particular case that you provided both the Court and to Mr. Honeycutt on the first day of the hearing; do you recall just offhand? MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. Page five. THE COURT: Thank you so much. MR. VINES: Inspector Singleton



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 testified that without proper inspection of the GPU receptacle by a mechanic at Marsh Harbour, it

was unknown as to the extent of the damage sustained to the GPU receptacle at the time of the aircraft, in this case, N90LJ, landed in MYAM. Inspector Singleton testified that at

worse the damage could cause the insulation surrounding the pins to be compromised which in turn may cause an electrical current and cause a fire. Mr. Honeycutt testified that the bent prongs of the GPU unit did not constitute a discrepancy or an issue with the aircraft. However, Judge, the actions of the pilot tell a different story. Captain Plas through his statement, marked as Exhibit C-8, testified that he contacted the Director of Operations, Mike Honeycutt to discuss the issue. Moreover, Brian Fanning stated in his statement, which is marked as Exhibit C-10, that he was informedby the pilot in command of the flight that damage couldhave occurred to the GPU unit. The Administrator submits that Plas' decision to call Mr. Honeycutt on May 3, 2009 while inMarsh Harbour to discuss the concern, as



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 well as to notify the Chief of Maintenance on or about May 7th of 2009, indicates that a discrepancy existed with the GPU receptacle on May 3, 2009 in marsh Harbour. In fact, Mr. Honeycutt stated that Mr. Plas disclosed that quote, ''He wasn't sure about the issue.'' Mr. Honeycutt testified that it was Captain Plas' prerogative to determine airworthiness of the aircraft, and therefore properly inspect the bent prongs for damage and any collateral damage to the GPU unit. However, this statement is contradictory to another statement made by Mr. Honeycutt, that if the pilot documented a discrepancy, the mechanic would inspect the damage addressed in the pilot's entry. If the pilot in command is authorized to assess the damage, then why have the procedures in paragraphs E-3 and F-1 of Worldwide's General Operation's Manual, which requires the companymechanic to clear a deferred discrepancy. Of note, both Captain Plas and Mr. Honeycutt testified that they do not hold an Airframe-and-Power-Plant Certificate. Additionally, the GPU receptacle was



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 replaced on May 20, 2009. That is Exhibit C-11. The Administrator agrees with Mr. Honeycutt's testimony that the GPO receptacle was replacedby the owner of the aircraft, Brandis. Brandis replaced the receptacle because it had a bent plug as documented by Brandis employee, Kurt Handing, in an e-mail marked as Exhibit C-12. Again, this fact supports a finding that onMay 9, 2009, Captain Plas observed a bent prong of the GPO receptacle and that that damage constitutes a discrepancy required to be documented on an MX-02 form, which is prescribed byWorldwide's General Operation's Manual. So what is the real reason Captain Plas did not document the GPO receptacle damage, the bent prongs on Worldwide's MX-02 form. As Mr. Honeycutt stated in his testimony ''time is tissue.'' Mr. Honeycutt testified about concerns with pilot-dutytime. Additionally, Mr. Honeycutt testified that obtaining a mechanic to inspect a discrepancy in a city outside of a country is complicated, intense, and sometimes requires flying in a mechanic, includinghis own employees to assess the discrepancy. Unfortunately, this process takes time.



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 flight log for May 3, 2009, exhibit C-4A, shows a crew-duty time of 14 hours. Had Worldwide documented the damage, which required a mechanic to inspect the damage, that protocol to obtain a mechanic to come in and inspect the discrepancy, would chip away at the crew-duty time, which, in this case, would have likely grounded the flight crew and perhaps prevented Worldwide from getting its aircraft and the patient onboard to the destination to Toronto. I would site FederalAviation Regulation 135.267C, which addresses pilot duty and flight-time limitations. The Administrator has also held that a Part 135 Operator remains responsible for the violations of its employees and responsible for the condition of its aircraft. I point to you a
case in the matter ofAlika, A-L-I-K-A, Aviation, Docket No. CP97WP0045 and that was issued December 21, 1999. Likewise, Worldwide is responsible for the actions of its employee, CaptainBrandon Plas. By virtue of the foregoing, Worldwide failed to document the discrepancy regarding the GPU receptacle, and as a result failed to ensure



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 that its flight personnel failed to use the General Operation's Manual when conducting its operations which is a violation of Part 135.21A. The Administrator also sites the case in the matter of American Air Network, Docket No. CP04WP0013. There, the Administrator affirmed the Department of TransportationAdministrative Law Judge findings that AmericanAir Network, Part 135 Operator violated 135.21Awhen the company failed to follows its own approved Aircraft Inspection Program. The Agency has proposed a civil penalty of $6,100 in the violation of Federal Aviation Regulation of 135.21A. This CP is supportedby the Administrator's Sanction Guide and Policy and evidence presented in this case. According to the Administrator's Sanction Policy, Table of Sanctions, which is referenced as Exhibit C-17, specifically pages B-3 and B-4 of that exhibit, the Respondent falls into the category of the group three carrier. That is because Worldwide employed six-to-eight pilots during 2009 pursuant to Mr. Honeycutt's testimony. Additionally, figure BlJ5 found on page B-14 of Exhibit C-17 is applicable to this case.



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 It sites a failure to make a required entry in an aircraft log. This figure recommends a CP in the range of minimumtomaximum. When calculating the sanction, it is the Administrator's policy to start with the dollar amount in the middle of the range and aggravate up or mitigate down. I'll refer you to Exhibit C-18, page 7-9, paragraph 58, reason three. THE COURT: I'm sorry, could you start again with that citation? MR. VINES: Sure. THE COURT: C-18, page seven through nine. MR. VINES: Page 7-9, paragraph 58, 8

as in boy three. THE COURT: Thank you. MR. VINES: To determine the middle of the range, the Administrator took the minimum dollar amount, which according to a group three carrier violations covered under 49USC, section 46301A5A, the minimum amount is $825, and the maximum amount of $11,000 and dividedby two to obtain an average, which is $5,912.50. The Administrator aggravated the sanction to $6,100 based on the criteria listed



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 in chapter seven of the FAA Order 21538, which is marked as Exhibit C-18. Judge, these factors include the nature of the violation, which is the fact that the Respondent is a Part 135 On-Demand Operator. Again, the type of certification, which again is the same fact that is a part

-- that the Respondent is a Part 135 Operator, which case law and the Agency is held to a higher standard than that opposed to say a Part 191 Operator. Also, the degree of hazard in this case
was considered and testified to byMs. Farmer. The other aggravated factor that warrants an upward departure from the $5,912.50 average is the corrective action taken that was also

-- the type of correction action taken in this case that

was also testifiedby Ms. Farmer, and the fact that damage was observed on May 9th, a corrective action to thatparticular issue, which was the GPU unit was accomplished until May 20th. For those reasons, Judge, the Administrator ask that you affirm the complaint

as amended this morning, as well as the $6,100 CP. Thank you. THE COURT: Thank you verymuch,



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 Mr. Vines.Mr. Honeycutt, do you have any closing argument you would like to offer? MR. HONEYCUTT: I do, your Honor. Thank you. The Government's case in question is that didWorldwide Aircraft Services fail to follow its Operation's Manual, in particularly filling out anMX-02 form, for an alleged discrepancy. I do want to point out that Inspector Singleton, the FAA's expert yesterday under direct questioning, I asked Inspector Singleton, "Your testimony was that a discrepancy was a hard fault or failure.'' Inspector Singleton went on to change his definition of discrepancy, that it could go for many, many things on an aircraft. He also agreed that a pilot, not only two different pilots, but that they could have two different opinions of a discrepancy, as would

a certifiedA-and-Pmechanic that did a walk around after an aircraft came back to base, one mechanic could find a discrepancywhile the other mechanic wouldnot consider the finding of discrepancy. A discrepancy falls in the decision of



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 eyes of the holder, and the captain, as I testified, has to make a decision that his ship is safe for the intended flight, and ultimately under the FAA Regulations, that decision lies with the captain. No one else can make that decision but the captain. Captain Plas, in this incident, had an incident in the Bahamas on a mission that he informed the Director of Operations when he called an hour-and-eight minutes after he landed, I believe it was an hour-and-eight minutes after he landed in Marsh Harbour, to give us his departure time, which was we're getting ready to depart. If Captain Plas felt that the issue at hand that he had was a safety issue, he would have called, as our Operation's Manual specifies, back to base to the Dispatch Center to talk to the Director of Operations and the Director of Maintenance about a potential maintenance item. Captain Plas did not call to report a maintenance itembecause he did not have an issue with the aircraft. If captain Plas would have had an issue with the aircraft, we have procedures in place to



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 put a patient on an aircraft into a facility that

comes into ourmission profile. Any time a patient is put on an aircraft, we have to have multiple contingencies and those contingencies

are multipliedbased on the patient's condition. So therefore, in preplanning to this particular mission that we knew was going to be 14-hour duty day and nine-and-a-half hours of flying, we could have just as easilybrought the aircraft from Dominica back to Florida and done a crew change,

or at the time JET I.C.U. operated three other Learjets that are in an I.C.U. configuration. As I testified to you, Marsh Harbour is roughly 220 miles east of Brooksville, which takes a Learjet at doing 420 miles an hour about 45 minutes from gear up to gear down. So from the time Captain Plas touched down and would have realized he had a problem, he could have called dispatched, informed us, and we could have had an aircraft airborne in as little as an hour on the ground 45 minutes later from take off. So roughly two hours later we could have had a team to replace them. THE COURT: I'm sorry, Mr. Honeycutt, you need to slow down for the court reporter.



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 Thank you. Go ahead. MR. HONEYCUTT: I'm sorry. Roughly two hours, your Honor, from the call in that we had

an incident, we could have had a relief team on the ground to also relieve the medical team, put the patient on the new aircraft. Not having anymore issues with duty time because we had a

new crew dispatched and, in that incidence, we could have had our lead chief mechanic, Brian Fanning, on the aircraft to do an evaluation of the suspected aircraft on the ground. That is a scenario that happens, it has happened, and at this time did not need to happen because the captainmade a decision that the aircraft did not have an issue. Upon arriving in Toronto and disembarking the patient and the crewmembers, the captain elected to troubleshoot the said potential problem, which was not a problem because he asked that the ground-power unit be hooked up to the aircraft, turned on, and the systemworked normal. Again, yesterday duringmy testimony, I specifically asked the Government's expert witness, how would you check a potential damaged



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 ground-power unit, and his testimony was, I would have to plug in the GPU and see if it worked. So Captain Plas, having determined that the GPU was not a problem, did not have to fill out an MX Maintenance Form, MX-02, because Captain Plas did not have a discrepancy. Captain Plas did not have an irregularity and Captain Plas did not have damage. That aircraft continued on and did several more missions for three days. It ended up at a maintenance facility for its scheduled routine maintenance, and the owners of that aircraft elected to replace that receptacle and add a doubler to strengthen it. The Government's case is basically that, didmy captain follow procedure, and as I justpointed out, Captain Plas followed the General Operation's Manual perfectly. The one
case that I have in front of us that the government sites, SundanceAir is the Respondent

versus the FederalAviation Administration. This flight, this incident, the Sundance was violated for operating under 135.25A, 135.65C, 135.179A, and I'mnot sure if the federal codes there, the Code of Federal



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 Regulations or Violations as well, but having violated the three of the 135 Regulations operating an aircraft without weather born radar, which is pretty important when you are operating in flying passengers in night and weather without

a GPS system. Well, they can use their VOR's and other estimates, that's not that big a deal. They operated 58 flights, apparently violated three violations, did it over 44 days, and the Administrator felt that the penalty that they

carne to on page five should not exceedmore than $5,000. The Government wants you to uphold their decision that we somehow did not follow our Operation's Manual and that we shouldbe assessed

a penalty for not making a maintenance entry into the aircraft log for $6,000. Your Honor, the Government has thrown a lot of sign-off statements, and there's a lot of contradiction in different statements as we have found andpointed out. This is not a black and white clear case. They intentionallymuddied the water to try to have a sign off look like we had coveredup maintenance. We have testimony from two of my



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 employees that Paul Kahler, Inspector Kahler,

carne to our facility 10 days after Inspector Frank Schaefer made in his written statement of the facts, that he found no damage to the aircraft and that the skin around the GPU receptacle had original skin and original paint. Therefore, the anonymous hot-line complaint that the aircraft had the skin peeledback like a banana was not true. Inspector Kahler contradicts himself in his case in point that I was just recently given. Your Honor, it is not an exhibit, but if you read through the redacted form that I was given

-- THE COURT: Well, that's not part of the evidence that's been presented to me. So I can't consider that. That was just disclosure to you. MR. HONEYCUTT: I understand, your Honor, I apologize. We feel that Inspector Kahler had a personal vendetta for Worldwide and its management for whatever reason. It has not been able to discover that reason, but I believe if you read through the evidence and look at Inspector Kahler's attitude towards the company,



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 it is very apparent that he was bent on finding something. Therefore, he would have not come to JET I.C.U. 10 days after Frank Schaefer's statement and demand that my leadmechanic change his statement, write a statement for that matter, then change it to what he wanted it to say. Your Honor, I rest. At the end of the day, JET I.C.U. follows its manual and takes pride in our operation. We have an impeccable record. This is an attempt by one inspector, I believe, to put a blemish on our record. I rest. THE COURT: Thank you verymuch. Mr. Vines, anything else from the FAA at this point? MR. VINES: A quick rebuttal, Judge. THE COURT: Okay. MR. VINES: The Respondent focused heavily on Inspector Singleton's testimony that you couldplug in the GPU unit into the aircraft's receptacle and everything worked and that was able to be done and then a test of that would prove successful. The Respondent focused heavily on the flights that occurred afterMYAM and flights before the aircraft on MYAM. Judge, the Administrator is not focused



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 on those flights. The Administrator is focused

on the flight that landed inMYAM, and by Inspector Singleton's testimony, if he couldn't plug in the GPU unit into the receptacle, there is something amiss. There is something wrong. That is what Inspector Singleton testified to, that that's how you perform the test, then by virtue of Captain Plas' statement, that test was

a failure.As to the sanction, the Respondent referenced Sundance Air, specific to the penalty that was set out there, I do agree the facts were different. However, possiblywith those facts in that case are more egregious than the facts we have here based on the different violations there, but nonetheless, the Judge ultimately found that the Respondent in that case did demonstrate a financial hardship, and that would be the separating factor, the distinguishing factor in this case versus that in Sundance Air with regard to the specificpenalty established by the Law Judge. As far as the Respondent's reference to Inspector Schaefer's statement found at Exhibit C-68 as inboy, it is the Administrator's



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 interpretation of Frank Schaefer's statement to be completely different than the Respondent's. If you read the paragraph of the second paragraph on C-68, Judge, Inspector Schaefer said that he was notified that the aircraft has extensive damage and that the skin was peeled back like a banana. If you move on, Inspector Schaefer went on to say that he inspected the aircraft, specifically aft the fuselage and found

no such damage. It is the Administrator's position that the damage Inspector Schaefer is referring to is the skin peeledback like a banana. However, as he was inspecting it as he continued his investigation, he realized that a new receptacle and a doubler was installed. So this obviously appears that Inspector Schaefer inspected this aircraft after May 20th, which is when, in fact, the GPU receptacle was replaced, as well as the skin was correctedpursuant to the maintenance entry referenced in Government Exhibit C-11 and C-12. As to the vendetta against

-- the alleged vendetta against the Respondent that the inspectors, whether it is Inspector Schaefer or



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 Inspector Kahler had, as the Respondent stated, they don't know what that vendetta is. So therefore I would argue that no such vendetta exists. Finally, Judge, the Respondent referenced the statement of its employee, Brian Fanning, and that Inspector Kahler threatened Mr. Fanning with a full investigation unless he changed it. I would argue that that allegation isn't credible. I would argue that the threat of investigation would lead an individual, in this case, to convert its story position or story from the truth to a falsity. Moreover, Inspector Kahler, in his testimony, testified that, in fact he didperform

a full investigation. That's what he does. As to the first

-- Mr. Fanning testified that he did draft an original statement, excuse me, the statement that is referenced in Exhibit C-10, however why he didn't feel it was important to keep that statement, to document and corroborate his allegation, that, if true, would seriously call into question and severely compromise the character and the nature of the FAA's investigation. Again, it leads to a conclusion



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 that there was no such original statement. The statement that was produced and was signed is, in fact, the one that is referenced inExhibit C-10. Again, his story, his allegation of this threat, his original document, and that it

was forced to be changed, it just doesn't pass or muster. Perhaps, Judge, his allegation, Mr. Fanning's allegation, on behalf of the inspectorwas perhaps concocted to maintain the status quo between him, Mr. Fanning, an employee ofWorldwide, and his employer and supervisor, Mr. Honeycutt. That's all I have, Judge. THE COURT: Thank you, Mr. Vines. Thank you, Mr. Honeycutt, for your presentations. I really appreciateboth your
care and thoughtfulness in trying to get all the informationbefore the Court. Before we close today, I'm going to ask you, Mr. Vines, to collect the original exhibits. I want to make sure that we have all of them that

weremoved for admission. So can you come up and do that now. MR. VINES: Sure. THE COURT: Once we get that done, we'll take care of any remaining matters before



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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 we go off the record. Just so you know, essentially these are decisions that are issued in writing typically. A decision will not be issued today orally, it will issued in writing. I can't promise you when that will be. The court reporter typically has a period of time in which to file the transcripts of all the proceedings that have occurred and then you basically get put in a line of decisions that need to be written. My staff and I are trying to get everything out as fast as possible, but unfortunately we're behind. So I will say to you that we will get this decision out to you as soon

as we can.Mr. Vines, can you come up to the witness chair? I'm going to ask you to make sure that all of the following exhibits are there and then to hand them to me. MR. VINES: Okay. THE COURT: C-1. MR. VINES: Yes. THE COURT: C-2. MR. VINES: Judge, itmay be best if you allow me to arrange --



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### 76 

### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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: Are they all in disarray? MR. VINES: Yes, Judge. THE COURT: Mr. Honeycutt, while Mr. Vines is doing this, do you have any questions of the Court before we end up closing? MR. HONEYCUTT: No, ma'am. Thank you. THE COURT: Okay. MR. VINES: Would you likeme topaper clip some of these? THE COURT: If you have some paper clips, that wouldbe great. I have some up here

as well. MR. VINES: I'm sorry, I onlyhave one. THE COURT: Okay. There shouldbe C-1. MR. VINES: Correct. THE COURT: C-3A through J. MR. VINES: Yes. THE COURT: I'm sorry, C-2 as well. MR. VINES: Yes. THE COURT: C-4Athrough E as in egg. MR. VINES: Okay. THE COURT: C-5 was not offered. So the next exhibit shouldbe C-6Athrough B. MR. VINES: Thank you. THE COURT: C-7Athrough

### B.

For

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### 3/7/2014

1 MR. VINES: Thank you. 2 THE COURT: C-8A through B. 3 MR. VINES: Okay. 4 THE COURT: C-9. 5 MR. VINES: Okay. 6 THE COURT: C-10. 7 MR. VINES: Yes. 8 THE COURT: C-11. 9 MR. VINES: Okay. 10 THE COURT: C-12. 11 MR. VINES: Okay. 12 THE COURT: C-13A through 0 as in 13 orange. 14 MR. VINES: Okay. 15 THE COURT: C-14A. 16 MR. VINES: Okay. 17 THE COURT: C-15 and 16 were not 18 offered. 19 MR. VINES: Correct. 20 THE COURT: C-17. 21 MR. VINES: Okay. 22 THE COURT: C-18. 23 MR. VINES: Okay. 24 THE COURT: C-19A through Bwas not 25 offered. Thank you for your assistance, Counsel.

ForTheRecord,Inc. 

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### Hearing WorldwideAircraftServices,Inc. 3/7/2014

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 So what I'm going to do is, I'm going to thank all the people who are still present who's testified, Mr. Honeycutt, Mr. Fanning, Ms. Farmer, thank you again for your testimony. Mr. Honeycutt, if you'll offer the Court's thanks to Ms. Aleski who is not present today. Mr. Vines, if you offer thanks to all the witnesses that you calledwho are not present today. I appreciate every-ones efforts. With that, I'mgoing to thank you all, good luck in the traffic war in the skies as you are going horne. We can go off the record.

(Whereupon, the hearing concluded at 12:55 p.m.)



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# I untitled 1 CERTIFICATEOFREPORTER 2 STATEOFFLOI\IDA 3 COUNTYOFHILLSBOROUGH: 4 5 I, LAURAMORALES, CourtReporter, 6 No1:aryPublic, certifythat I was authQrized 7 toanddidstenographicallyreporttheforegoing 8 proceedingandthatthetranscriptisatrue 9 andcompleterecordofmystenographicnotes. 10 I furthercertifythat I amno1:a ll relij.Live, emp1oyee, atto-rney, orcounselof 12 anyoftheparties, noram I a relativeor 13 employeeofanyoftheparties' attorney!lr 14 counselconnectedwiththeaction, noramI 15 financiallyinterestedintheaction. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Datedthisd0+hofmarch,2014

# ~WL'-f~~h**~ L~ora]es,** **~~** courtR"porter,NotaryPublic Stat.eofFloridaatt.arge MYcommis$ionN().: FF029798 E)(pires: June10, 2017