Operation Safe Pilot

Forty California pilots were charged with making false statements to a government agency or similar charges Monday. Officials allege that the pilots in question concealed serious medical conditions, in many cases while collecting disability pay.

"The fraud and falsification allegedly committed by these individuals is extremely serious and adversely affects the public interest in air safety,'' said Nicholas Sabatini, the FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety.

Federal agents conducted an 18-month investigation that found that the pilots were collecting Social Security disability benefits for conditions they did not put in their medical applications. Some of the conditions were schizophrenia, drug addiction and heart problems.

None of the pilots in question have been accused of flying unsafely. Most of the accused were private pilots, although a few had commercial licenses and one was a commercial airline pilot, said Patty Pontello, spokeswoman for the U. S. attorney's office in Sacramento.

Thirty of the pilots have been indicted on charges of making false statements to a government agency. These charges are felonies, and punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The other ten pilots face similar charges of making and delivering a false official writing, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it has revoked 14 pilots' licenses and notified the other 26 that their licenses and medical certificates may be suspended, according to media reports.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/