The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced it has issued an Emergency Order of Suspension against Island Airlines (Virgin Islands), a charter carrier based out of the US Virgin Islands, for not allowing the agency to inspect its aircraft and records.
An FAA statement issued this week said that it had received information on March 14, 2017, alleging that Island Airlines was operating a Beech (twin turboprop) King Air B200 while an inspection was overdue for one of its engines.
It added that between March 15, 2017, and November 29, 2017, it had attempted numerous times to contact Island Airlines by email and through registered mail to alert the company that it was opening an investigation and to schedule an inspection of its aircraft and records. In addition, the FAA sent inspectors to St. Croix to inspect Island Airlines’ records and aircraft in April 2017 and November 2017.
The company did not respond to the FAA’s various communications and did not make a representative available to allow the inspectors access to its operations base, the FAA alleges.
"Because Island Airlines did not allow access to its operations base for inspection of its records and aircraft, the FAA cannot verify the company’s qualifications to hold an Air Carrier Certificate," the regulator said. "The FAA has determined that the safety of the flying public requires the suspension of Island Airlines’ certificate until it allows inspection of its records and aircraft to establish the company’s qualifications."
The Emergency Order of Suspension is effective immediately, with Island Airlines barred from conducting flight operations while the order is in effect.
Island Airlines was established in 2006 in St. Croix Henry E. Rohlsen, U.S. Virgin Islands by Trond Osthaug. It specializes in passenger charter flights throughout the Caribbean using twin-piston as well as twin-turboprop aircraft. It also had plans to induct a maiden Learjet 55 back in 2016.
