NANTUCKET — A former Nantucket charter plane business may soon lose its certificate to fly.
The Federal Aviation Administration proposes to revoke the air carrier certificate of Nantucket Express LLC for using unqualified pilots and operating unauthorized aircraft, according to a statement issued Friday from the agency.
The FAA alleges that between March 2015 and September 2017, Nantucket Express conducted 76 passenger-carrying flights using three aircraft that were not listed on its air carrier certificate, and that unqualified pilots operated these flights.
The pilots were unqualified by not being listed on the air carrier certificate as an authorized pilot or by failing to pass a required knowledge test and competency and flight checks, the statement says.
Nantucket Express also operated 39 of these flights in an aircraft that had not undergone required safety inspections, according to the statement.
From April 2016 to September 2017, unqualified pilots operated an additional 17 passenger-carrying flights, the statement says.
"Nantucket Express's actions were careless or reckless, and its numerous violations of the Federal Aviation Regulations demonstrate that it lacks the qualifications to hold an air carrier certificate," the FAA stated.
Nantucket Express was dissolved by court order or by the secretary of state June 28, according to the secretary of state's website.
Company officials still hold an FAA air carrier operating certificate, which the agency has proposed to revoke.
Nantucket Express had 15 days from receipt of the FAA notice to notify the agency how it intended to respond to the proposed revocation. Failure to respond would result in a revocation order, according to the FAA statement.
The company received the notice Nov. 28, according to Kathleen Bergen, spokeswoman for the FAA. The company has not responded yet, she said via email.
After flying in and out of Nantucket Memorial Airport for 50 years, Robert Walsh, the captain and owner of Nantucket Express, had his flying privileges revoked in July by the Airport Commission.
In a 3-0 vote, the commission backed airport manager Tom Rafter's recommendation to ban Walsh.
The decision stemmed from four accusations made by Rafter against Walsh, most notably that Walsh in March 2018 lent his airport credential badge to a convicted felon who had his pilot's license revoked by the FAA in 2014.
Rafter also accused Walsh of leaving a plane with a flat tire on the runway and taxiway intersection at the airport, picking up passengers in an area he was not authorized to enter and urinating in front of three FAA inspectors during a ramp check.
Walsh denied all of the allegations and previously said he would appeal the airport's decision in court.
On various dates between 2015 and 2017, Nantucket Express operated multiple flights using Walsh as pilot in command when he had not passed a written or oral test within the previous 12 months for using that type of aircraft and did not pass a competency check or flight check, the November notice from the FAA says.
An additional six employees flew aircraft they were not authorized to operate while working for the company, the notice says.
Nantucket Express operated charter planes that flew to and from Nantucket from regional airports including Plymouth Municipal Airport, Norwood Memorial Airport, Marshfield Airport and Westchester County Airport.
Walsh could not be reached for comment Friday.
Material from The Inquirer and Mirror was used in this report. Follow Beth Treffeisen on Twitter: @BTreffeisenCCT.
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