The same day, a helicopter broke down and crashed on the Hudson River, killing a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, formally accusing local helicopter repair companies of putting their customers at similar risks.
Federal prosecutors said it had been more than three years since Jared Michael Swensen, 48, repaired and sold aircraft parts that were coming and were about to end, but listed as new, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the equipment failure could lead to a fatal helicopter crash.
The indictment alleges that the helicopter parts installed on the customer’s aircraft were listed as hundreds of hours or in some cases brand new, when in fact, the parts are closer to the limits of their service restrictions.
Swensen operates his business from Oxnard Airport, Light Helicopter Depot. He announced that he has obtained inspection authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration and has been certified for airframe and power plant certificates.
“We specialize in bringing older aircraft back to life,” the company said on a website that promotes its services on a deleted website.
But in fact, prosecutors said Swensen and his company made fake entries on maintenance logs, changing sales orders and packaging orders to match the fake entries. The company is also accused of forging a FAA release certificate to show that the aircraft is mobile.
Swensen and his company billed clients twice, including one bill of $13,000 and another bill of $23,700, according to court records.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's Office investigated the case and the FAA assisted.
If convicted, Swensen faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and each count of fraud involving aircraft parts, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Prosecutors say that the number of parts frauds per aircraft could also be fined up to $10 million, and the number of wire frauds could be fined up to $1 million.
According to court records, Swanson has not pleaded guilty to the charges.
