推 psilons: 矮額 03/26 14:09
主任教官與副主任教官因為學校飛機飛安因素請辭，3/18的當地新聞。不知道為什麼
某協會還推這學校.
BY BEVERLY BARELA
[email protected]
The Times has learned - through an interview with a reliable source who asked to remain anonymous - that Sierra Academy of Aeronautics gave early releases to its Chief Flight Instructor, Assistant Chief Flight Instructor, and three Senior Flight Instructors last week after they offered resignations due to serious concerns with plane safety and school mismanagement.
The Sierra Academy is an established international flight school which has operated at Castle Airport in Atwater since 2004.
According to the source, several other flight instructors who also resigned were given an early release by the business a few days prior to March 11.
The source told the Times: "Everybody [who resigned] got told, 'We're not firing you. We're early releasing you.' But $50 a month was being paid for housing, and they said you have 48 hours to get out of the base housing or they would start charging a daily rate."
"A month ago, we had 35 flight instructors," the source said. "After this purge, by the end of the month, they ought to be down to 15. A lot of them are brand new instructors. They have 250 or 300 of the total flight instructor time; 250 is legal, but you usually have a mentor to lean on, but all the senior, experienced guys are gone."
Describing the maintenance on the planes, the source told the Times, "The Maintenance is extremely junior. They don't have much experience, but are doing the best they can with what they have. Most of them are car mechanics who are not certified to work on airplanes. They call them apprentices, and technically they can legally do this if they're an apprentice to someone with a license. But who they're apprenticed to are not that seasoned. The people running the show are not bringing in any talent to lead
these guys."
Referring to an incident that happened "three or four weeks ago," the source told the Times, "A Piper Seminole twin engine plane was started by Sierra's President [Kwan], and smoke was pouring out of its engine. Fire extinguishers were used. He put the plane back on the line without making sure it was safe and told a flight instructor to fly it. The flight instructor flew it. It had engine problems and the engine stopped, and he turned it into a glider and landed the plane on a field between two roads.
The plane has to be thoroughly gone over to see what is wrong, but the President took off out of the muddy field in the plane, and it mysteriously appeared to be flown the next day. They said it was just smoke, no fire. But the engine was sprayed with a fire extinguisher. They claimed an incident was filed with the FAA, but I don't know if it's true. I can't imagine why the FAA hasn't shut the place down. They run it as a free-for-all. They need to be stopped before they get someone killed."
According to the source: "There is liability for instructors. Instructors are not mechanics, but they have to sign that they accept a plane before flying it. If the FAA found something wrong, they could be violated."
The Times was told, "The brass instructors put their foot down and said, 'We're not going to allow this.' They [flight instructors/chiefs] said, 'We're not going to play the company line', and shut down the entire fleet, grounded 44 planes, and expected they [business owner and management] would straighten up overnight, and yet everything seems to remain the same."
A student at the school, who did not wish his name revealed, confirmed he has not been able to fly for a month, and said the business owner claims the planes are being repaired.
The student also said, "The two owners are fighting."
The flight school, which trains youth from China and Korea to be pilots with their countries' airlines, is involved in an ongoing lawsuit between its co-owners, John Yoon and Daniel Yoon, who coincidentally have the same last name, but are not otherwise related. The lawsuit, filed by John Yoon in 2015 in Merced County Superior Court, claims that Daniel Yoon unlawfully gained control of the company from him while he was hospitalized in 2013 after a motorcycle accident. John Yoon specifically alleges in
the lawsuit that Daniel Yoon forged his name on a loan application, changed the membership of the board of directors, and gave himself shares of the business' stock without informing anyone, and these actions resulted in "numerous safety issues, tax evasion issues, and threats to its cash flow".
On Jan. 13, 2016, felony criminal charges were filed against Daniel Yoon by the Merced County District Attorney and a warrant was issued for his arrest, and on Jan. 25, 2016, the flight school became the scene of a criminal IRS probe by the United States Treasury Department.
During the interview, the source told the Times, "He [Daniel Yoon] was arrested but posted $100,000 bail to get out of jail. He has four felony counts pending including embezzlement and forgery. He has been accused of all kinds of things - hitting employees - and he rules with an iron fist. There is a rumor that he is banned in South Africa, and if he sets foot in his own country, Korea, he will be arrested."
The source told the Times his wish to be unidentified is because of "the reaction from people with mafioso tactics."
The Times was told, "It's a very bad situation. One of the owners [John Yoon] was involved in an accident and was in a coma for several months and during that time, the other owner [Daniel Yoon] forged documents and had the injured owner ousted. The bad owner had a court order and came in and took over and hauled the good owner away. It reminds me of Mafia tactics. The former owner [John Yoon] tried to improve the school and do better things. Things were going in a much better direction until one day
when he was driven off the base last September. The Chief Flight Instructor, Brian Johnson, was also hauled away. He was tied to the former owner and ran everything and knew everything. They had guards, and forced them off the base."
"This guy [Daniel Yoon] has been known to fire people for no good reason. The President, Kwan, and Director of Operations, Ryan Smith, are his henchmen, and everybody else pays the price. People mostly shut their mouths, but they're miserable. There is no morale, and this includes the students, too."
"The students don't have a clue. They're telling them they're going to make the planes better. He [Daniel Yoon] refuses to put money into these planes. The fleet is garbage. He has drained all the money out of the flight school and put it into the simulator, which is a separate company. He's not in danger of losing the simulator, but he is in danger of losing the flight school. We believe the flight school will revert back into the hands of the good owner in the future, but when the good owner gets it
back, it'll be wrecked."
Describing the plight of the "more than 250 students," the source told the Times, "The Chinese airlines pay for their students in installments and don't pay up front. But the Korean students have to pay with their own money and have to pay up front. They went to the President and asked for their money back and wanted to go to another school. One guy said he spent $50,000, and they were offering him $10,000. These students are stuck, and they are not sophisticated enough to hire an attorney. Being from
another country, they don't know how our laws work."
A manager at Sierra Academy of Aeronautics was contacted by the Times for a response with regard to the resignation of the flight instructors, and the situation at the flight school, but was unavailable for comment by the time of this publication
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