TETERBORO — A pilot who worked for the corporate jet charter service that came under federal scrutiny following a spectacular 2005 crash at Teterboro Airport pleaded guilty today, just weeks before other top executives with the now-defunct Fort Lauderdale-based operation are expected to go to trial. Francis Vieira, 60, a first officer with Platinum Jet, told assistant U.S. attorney...
Aerial view of a plane crash near the end of the Teterboro Airport runway in February 2005. The private plane skidded across Route 46 and crashed into a large building. TETERBORO — A pilot who worked for the corporate jet charter service that came under federal scrutiny following a spectacular 2005 crash at Teterboro Airport pleaded guilty today, just weeks before other top executives with the now-defunct Fort Lauderdale-based operation are expected to go to trial.
Francis Vieira, 60, a first officer with Platinum Jet, told assistant U.S. attorney Scott B. McBride that he falsified flight logs and routinely flew illegal charter flights that violated FAA regulations.
Vieira, who was not behind the controls of the flight out of Teterboro, is among at least six company officials charged so far in the case. According to prosecutors, Platinum, which counted among its passengers the rich and famous — including athletes, musicians and other high-end clients who paid as much as $90,000 per charter — was not certified to fly commercial charters.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said the company routinely overloaded planes with fuel at airports where it was cheaper to top-off the tanks to boost profits. This was done, they said, even when it caused aircraft to exceed allowable takeoff and landing weights.
Platinum came under investigation after a Challenger CL-600 twin-engine jet crashed at Teterboro on Feb. 2, 2005. Investigators found that the jet, chartered by a New York equity firm with eight passengers on board, was nose-heavy and unable to lift off at the speed it was traveling. The pilot of the flight, John Kimberling, aborted the takeoff, but was unable to stop, slamming through an airport fence and across busy Route 46, before hitting a car and crashing into the side of a warehouse. The cabin aide — a Miami model and dancer — did not know how to open the door of the plane.
All 11 people on the plane were injured, as were several others on the ground.
Vieira faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in January.
Previous coverage:
• Captain in Teterboro Airport crash accused of lying to investigators
• Pilots in 2005 Teterboro plane crash plead not guilty to violating federal flying rules
• Founder of charter company in Teterboro crash pleads not guilty
• Two executives linked to '05 Teterboro jet crash plead not guilty