The federal government is turning up the heat on defendants in the Hansen Helicopters case in Guam. Last month the federal government added new charges to indictments originally levied in 2018 covering a plethora of federal aviation regulations violations. The new charges cover aircraft parts fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery, aircraft registration violations, and employing an unlicensed pilot and mechanic. The revised charges were levied against Hansen owner John Walker, and three company employees—executive vice president Marvin Reed, director of operations Kenneth Crowe, and director of maintenance Phillip Kapp—as well as a company vendor, Randall Rodgers, of Valdosta, Georgia. Rodgers operates Vanguard Aviation and is accused of providing Hansen with unairworthy helicopters and parts in 2015 and 2016.
According to the initial May 2018 indictment, beginning as early as 1997, Walker, Reed, Crowe, and Kapp circumvented U.S. aviation safety regulations to maximize profits at Hansen Helicopters. They allegedly used aircraft that had been deregistered—because they were destroyed, scrapped, or otherwise deemed not airworthy—and concealed that fact in documents and records submitted to the FAA.
Late last year Hansen defendant attorneys sought to have the original indictments dismissed, arguing that the helicopters at the nexus of the charges were registered to companies located in the Pacific tax haven Vanuatu and operated in international waters off commercial tuna fishing boats, and therefore outside U.S. jurisdiction. The attorneys also argued that since the helicopters in question held invalid FAA registrations, they were being operated outside the scope of FAA oversight authority. Hansen is headquartered and operates a maintenance base in Harmon, Guam and has operated in the U.S. territory since 1985.
Most of the charges in the original indictment stem from an NTSB investigation of a 2015 fatal accident of a Hansen-operated Hughes 369HS, N9068F, on a fish-spotting contract in the Pacific near Manra Island, Kiribati. The NTSB determined, “The pilot did not hold a pilot certificate issued by the United States Federal Aviation Administration, which is required to operate a U.S.-registered aircraft while in international airspace.” Nor could the NTSB locate any personal flight records for the pilot at all, including a logbook. Both Crowe and Kapp are accused of lying to investigators and falsifying records in connection with the investigation into the crash, which killed the pilot.
The federal government is turning up the heat on defendants in the Hansen Helicopters case in Guam. In January the federal government added new charges to indictments originally levied in 2018 covering a plethora of federal aviation regulations violations. The new charges cover aircraft parts fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery, aircraft registration violations, and employing an unlicensed pilot and mechanic. The revised charges were levied against Hansen owner John Walker, and three company employees—executive vice president Marvin Reed, director of operations Kenneth Crowe, and director of maintenance Phillip Kapp—as well as a company vendor, Randall Rodgers, of Valdosta, Georgia. Rodgers operates Vanguard Aviation and is accused of providing Hansen with unairworthy helicopters and parts in 2015 and 2016.
According to the initial May 2018 indictment, beginning as early as 1997, Walker, Reed, Crowe, and Kapp circumvented U.S. aviation safety regulations to maximize profits at Hansen Helicopters. They allegedly used aircraft that had been deregistered—because they were destroyed, scrapped, or otherwise deemed not airworthy—and concealed that fact in documents and records submitted to the FAA.
Late last year Hansen defendant attorneys sought to have the original indictments dismissed, arguing that the helicopters at the nexus of the charges were registered to companies located in the Pacific tax haven Vanuatu and operated in international waters off commercial tuna fishing boats, and therefore outside U.S. jurisdiction. The attorneys also argued that since the helicopters in question held invalid FAA registrations, they were being operated outside the scope of FAA oversight authority. Hansen is headquartered and operates a maintenance base in Harmon, Guam and has operated in the U.S. territory since 1985.
Most of the charges in the original indictment stem from an NTSB investigation of a 2015 fatal accident of a Hansen-operated Hughes 369HS, N9068F, on a fish-spotting contract in the Pacific near Manra Island, Kiribati. The NTSB determined, “The pilot did not hold a pilot certificate issued by the United States Federal Aviation Administration, which is required to operate a U.S.-registered aircraft while in international airspace.” Nor could the NTSB locate any personal flight records for the pilot at all, including a logbook. Both Crowe and Kapp are accused of lying to investigators and falsifying records in connection with the investigation into the crash, which killed the pilot.