LANSING (Detroit Free Press)- An audit released Tuesday said the Michigan Department of Transportation's Office of Aeronautics let five of 63 Michigan flight schools operate with expired state licenses.
The report by Auditor General Thomas McTavish said four of the schools had licenses that expired Dec. 31, 2010, and one had a license that expired Dec. 31, 2009. Licenses must be renewed annually.
"The Office of Aeronautics failed to detect that these five schools had not submitted renewal applications," and therefore the schools continued to operate out of compliance with state law, the audit said.
The report did not identify the flight schools, but MDOT spokesman Jeff Cranson identified them as Benz Aviation in Ionia and Grand Haven, Blue Sun Air in Zeeland, Flying Tiger in Marquette, Hillsdale Aero in Hillsdale and Crosswinds Aviation in Howell. State licenses for all five facilities remained lapsed as of Tuesday, Cranson said.
Tony Smit, a co-owner of Benz Aviation and Blue Sun Air, said he and state officials were lax in allowing state licenses to lapse. But he said airports and flight instructors are licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration, which also is the agency that issues licenses to new pilots. All federal approvals are in place at his facilities, and there are no issues about the safety or validity of flight training, he said.
"There's been a little bit of delinquency on our part," not just on the part of the state, Smit said, adding that the state license costs $25 and is routine. In one case, he thought the state never sent his school the application and in another case, the state apparently didn't get an application he sent in.
A call to the FAA was not returned.
At Crosswinds Aviation, co-owner Andrea Dahline said she and her husband took over the school in October and are working to come into compliance with the state. Crosswinds has federally licensed instructors on-site, she said.
Messages left for Flying Tiger and Hillsdale were not returned. Cranson said Flying Tiger did not operate in 2011 but intends to operate in 2012.
The audit also said that for 79% of the flight schools, state officials did not complete inspections within three years, as required.
For eight of the schools, inspections were more than five years behind schedule, the report said. Inspections were three to five years late for 26 schools, one to three years late for 12 schools, and a year or less late for four schools.
The report did not identify any of the flight schools by name or location.
The department did not dispute the findings but promised to fix the problems.
"The Office of Aeronautics will modify its processes," the department said in a response that accompanied the report.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
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