The same day to The helicopter separated and crashed into the Hudson RiverKilling everyone on board, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles had a formal battery of a local helicopter repair company or putting its custom at a similar risk.
Federal prosecutors say that for more than three years, Jared Michael Swensen, 48, or Ventura Aircraft pieces repaired and sold That was growling the end of their useful life, but listed them as new. A failure of that team could have led a deadly helicopter accident, prosecutors said.
The helicopter pieces installed in the customer aircraft were listed as they had a few hundred hours of service or in some cases are new, when in reality the pieces were closer to the end of their limit for the service, according to the accusation.
Swensen operated his business, Light Helicopter Depot, outside Oxnard airport. He announced that he was certified with a fuselage and energy plant certificate with inspection authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.
“We specialize in returning life to the oldest and most scheduled airplanes,” said the company on a website eliminated by Times that announces its services.
But in reality, prosecutors say, Swensen and their company made counterfeit tickets in altered maintenance and orders books and packaging jumps so that they coincide with the counterfeit tickets. The company is also accused of falsifying the liberation certificates of the Federal Aviation Administration, used to show that a plane is a plane.
On two occasions, Swensen and his company invoiced their customers for their service, including an invoice for $ 13,000 and another for $ 23,700, according to judicial records.
The Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Transportation investigated the case and the FAA attended.
If it is convicted, Swensen could face up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud and up to 15 years in prison for each fraud charge involving aircraft pieces. Its business could also be acquired up to $ 10 million for the count of fraud of each aircraft and up to $ 1 million for each account fraud count, chording the prosecutors.
Swensen has not yet presented a plea in response to charges, according to judicial records.
