FAA Officer, 5 Others Indicted in Test Scandal
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector and five others, including Air Force officers, were indicted today on charges they helped military pilots cheat on exams to gain commercial licenses.
The ringleaders, reserve Air Force Maj. Charles Chinn, an FAA safety inspector, and squadron commander Lt. Col. Edward King, helped 15 to 20 F-16 fighter pilots who took the test at Homestead Air Force Base, then tried to cover up the cheating during an investigation, interim U.S. Atty. Dexter Lehtinen said.
The cheating “did serious damage to the safety of commercial aviation,” Lehtinen said. But he added that few, if any, of the pilots are working for commercial airlines.
Most the pilots who took the exam cooperated with investigators when contacted, Lehtinen said.
The prosecutor said that no money changed hands but that Chinn and King apparently hoped to enhance their future careers in commercial aviation after their retirements from public service.
The indictment charged that in 1986 and 1987, Chinn and King supplied test-takers with answers or let other people sit in for them.
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