A California aircraft charter operator faces a proposed $533,320 civil penalty for allegedly conducting unauthorized charter flights with pilots who had not been properly trained, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says.
The FAA announced the proposed penalty late last week against Steele Aviation of Beverly Hills, California, U.S. The FAA said this was the third time since 2017 that it has proposed penalties against the company. The FAA also revoked the pilot certificates of Steele Aviation President Nicolas Steele, as well as a pilot who was employed by the company.
In its announcement, the FAA said that Steele Aviation conducted “at least 10 unauthorized for-hire flights” in a Hawker HS-125-800 between Jan. 28 and Feb. 14, 2019. The flights were to and from various destinations in the United States and Canada.
“The flights were unauthorized because Steele Aviation did not have an air carrier certificate; used pilots who had not passed required annual knowl…
