Panel Told Arrow Air Routinely Delayed Maintenance
Two former pilots for Arrow Air, the company whose charter flight crashed in Newfoundland last December, killing 248 U.S. servicemen returning from the Middle East, testified Thursday that the small airline routinely postponed crucial maintenance and forced its crews to work excessively long hours.
Appearing before the Senate Government Affairs permanent investigations subcommittee, Daniel E. Hood and Michael Sanjenis said that, while flying for Arrow Air, they observed that the company made only “marginal” repairs to its planes and seemed more concerned with making money and keeping military charter contracts than ensuring passenger safety.
However, two Arrow Air executives, Chairman George E. Batchelor and Senior Vice President Richard P. Skully, denied the charges, contending that the airline is as safe as other small charter lines. Batchelor termed “absurd” the allegation that he was more concerned with profits than with safety.
Business Faltering
Arrow Air filed for reorganization last month under federal bankruptcy laws, asserting that its business was faltering because the Air Force had canceled several charter contracts and because the Federal Aviation Administration had temporarily grounded all but two of its planes. Some members of Congress have demanded that the Pentagon terminate all contracts with the Miami-based carrier.
Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.), a member of the subcommittee, charged that Arrow Air has “cut every corner on safety and pulled out every stop to keep its planes moving and revenues coming in.”
Hood and Sanjenis said that the company often forced its air crews to work 18 to 20 hours a day, even though regulations call for a limit of 12 hours to prevent fatigue. As a result, some crew members fell asleep in the cockpit and had to be awakened by flight attendants, they said.
The cause of the Gander crash still is being investigated by Canadian authorities. But Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) noted at the hearing that engine troubles are primarily suspected, in line with testimony by the pilots Thursday that engine repairs often were deferred by Arrow Air.
