Applicant Falsely Inflated Flight Hours For Rating

A pilot looking to shave some hours off of his commercial pilot training was in federal court on Friday during a hearing in Des Moines. Fahad Nabeel Hussein Al-daous plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to the FAA. A second count was dropped under a plea agreement. The information had been given to the FAA by Livingston Aviation, who stated that Hussein Al-Daous falsely listed more than 130 hours of flying that he did not complete in his logbook.

The intent was to obtain a commercial pilot’s license without paying for all the required flight hours. The maximum sentence Mr. Al-Daous faces is five years at his August sentencing, but is likely to receive less time due to his cooperation and guilty plea.

The Associated Press reports that Hussein Al-Daous admitted to falsifying his logbook and submitting incorrect numbers to FAA investigators. He provided a chart to show which flights had been falsified, and provided similar information during an interview with special agents from the FBI and the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General at his home in December. In all, his logbook shows 90 hours of flight and 41 hours of cross-country flight hours that he did not complete.

Even after he obtained his instrument license, he continued to falsely list flights and "intended to use this falsely inflated flight data to obtain a commercial pilot license," according to the plea agreement.

FMI: www.livingstonaviation.com, www.faa.gov