Airline Employee Claims He Was Fired for Complaining About Pilot Steering With Knees

Keep New Times Free

I Support

Local
Community
Journalism

Support the independent voice of South Florida and help keep the future of New Times free.

In 2006, Capt. Patrick Hart was deadheading (flying in uniform but not at the helm) on a Gulfstream International Airlines flight from Orlando to Miami when things got a little bumpy.

He said from where he sat in the back of the 19-seater, he could see the small plane's wingtips bouncing erratically against the horizon.

When he walked into the cockpit, he said, he saw the pilot had an unorthodox, possibly hazardous, way of manning the controls.

"He would tap the controls with his knee," he said, or the back of his hand -- something you don't do if you're not on autopilot.

Hart said other crew members knew about the pilot's habit, though many were too scared to say anything to management. He said smaller airlines employ aspiring pilots, who pay upward of $40,000 to get 250 flight hours under their belts. He said inexperienced pilots are afraid of jeopardizing their careers by complaining. "They won't do a damned thing to lose their $40,000 investment," he said.

Hart said when he complained to management, he lost his job. He filed suit in 2007 under Florida's Whistleblower Act.

"I step up to the plate, and I get my head chopped off," he said as he and Capt. Kenny Edwards, a plaintiff in another whistleblower suit against the company, waited for the jury to deliver a verdict Tuesday afternoon.

Gulfstream International Airlines did not return several calls requesting comment. The airline filed for bankruptcy in 2010. In May, Chicago-based asset management firm Victory Park Capital bought the Fort Lauderdale-based carrier. The airline flies to several Bahamas destinations and shuttles some state lawmakers to and from Tallahassee during session.

The jury was still in deliberations this afternoon. A verdict is expected Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Update: the jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff Wednesday afternoon.

Follow The Pulp on Facebook and on Twitter: @ThePulpBPB. Follow Kate Bradshaw on Facebook and on Twitter @KateBradshaw.

Keep New Times Broward-Palm Beach Free... Since we started New Times Broward-Palm Beach, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of South Florida, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering South Florida with no paywalls.

Broward News

Recommended For You

Airline Employee Claims He Was Fired for Complaining About Pilot Steering With Knees

Trending News

Powered by SailThru