FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has increased its surveillance of Air Sunshine, partly as a result of a July crash in the Bahamas that killed a woman and a young child from Jacksonville last month.
Meanwhile, the wreckage of that airplane was raised from 30 feet of water about six miles west of Treasure Cay over the weekend, authorities said.
The extra scrutiny of the small charter airline is the result of the July 13 crash that killed Diana Diaz and her niece and three other incidents, all of them also in July, said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.οΎ
In one, the landing gear of a Cessna 402 collapsed as it taxied for takeoff in Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas on July 5, damaging an engine and propeller.
The other two incidents were on July 28 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where Air Sunshine is based: An Embraer turboprop blew a tire on landing, and a Cessna 402C blew a tire after making a quick turn off a runway, Bergen said.
Air Sunshine’s maintenance and flight operations now are subject indefinitely to more frequent and more in-depth inspections, FAA officials said.
“That’s a routine procedure after an airline has a number of incidents in a relatively short period of time,” Bergen said.
Air Sunshine attorney David McDonald Sr. told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the company has no problem with the increased surveillance because it already is abiding by all regulations.
“They’re operating as safe as they can,” he said. “The Air Sunshine people are extremely cautious and careful.”
In the crash, engine trouble forced the pilot to put the Cessna 402C down in the water six miles west of Treasure Cay on a flight from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood.
Although all 10 occupants escaped from the aircraft, a Jacksonville woman and her niece apparently drowned, authorities said. The survivors were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after two hours in the ocean.
The Bahamian government later banned Air Sunshine from that nation until U.S. officials finish their investigation of the crash.
Air Sunshine continues to fly to Sarasota, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
