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Guyanese Jet company president guilty on most serious charge
… New Jersey Airport crash case
The co-founders of a luxury charter jet company whose plane barreled off the runway at Teterboro Airport in 2005, injuring 14 people, were found guilty, yesterday, of conspiracy to violate federal aviation rules in a scheme to put profits ahead of safety.
A jury of seven men and five women returned split verdicts in Newark against Guyana-born brothers Michael and Paul Brassington, both executives of the now-defunct Platinum Jet Management LLC of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 business jet plowed through a steel perimeter fence and struck two cars as it crossed six lanes of Route 46 before crashing into a clothing warehouse.
Michael Brassington, the company’s former president, chief operating officer and chief pilot, was found guilty on nine counts and acquitted of 12 counts.
Paul Brassington, a former vice president, was found guilty only on the conspiracy count and acquitted on four other counts.
Michael Brassington, whom prosecutors portrayed as the leader of a blatant conspiracy to defraud the government, was convicted of the most serious charge, endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight.
That charge, normally used in terrorism cases, related to Brassington’s concealment of dangerous over-fueling and weight distribution practices that caused the jet’s centre of gravity to exceed its forward weight limit for takeoff, contributing to the February 2, 2005, crash at Teterboro, authorities said.
Prosecutors charged that Michael Brassington specifically misled the flight officer responsible for fueling and preparing the weight and balance graphs by informing him that the plane was 1,000 pounds lighter than it actually was.
As a result, the plane’s nose failed to lift off at the expected speed, causing the pilot to abort the takeoff as he quickly ran out of runway.
Traveling down the runway at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour, the Bombardier Challenger 600 business jet plowed through a steel perimeter fence and struck two cars as it crossed six lanes of Route 46 before crashing into a clothing warehouse.
Both pilots and two passengers were seriously injured.
The judge continued the brothers’ bail and set sentencing for March 17, next. (North Jersey.com)
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