FLYGLOBESPAN faces an unlimited fine for operating a flight with 20 passengers from Liverpool to New York via Knocke in Ireland without a valid safety certificate.
The Edinburgh-based budget airline admitted two summonses under the Air Navigation Order 2005 at City of Westminster Magistrates Court and was sent to Southwark Crown Court for sentence.
The company admitted the plane was flown without a valid cer
tificate of airworthiness. A summons accusing the company of failing to report an occurrence to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was withdrawn.
District Judge Timothy Daber said in sending the case to the Crown Court: "Although the offences arose out of one incident and there was no suggestion of passengers being endangered, there is a heavy duty on operators of compliance with the certificate."
The court was told that lightning struck at New York's JFK Airport on June 27 last year and shortly after taking off for Liverpool the next day a pressure gauge on the Boeing 757-28A aircraft failed.
Engineers at Liverpool were unable to correct the problem but the return flight took off with 20 passengers, stopping off en route at Knocke. The plane then flew on to New York, where the necessary work was carried out.
In October, US officials reported the matter to the CAA and Alison Slater, prosecuting for the CAA, told the court that the company's managing director was interviewed and admitted its systems had not been "robust" enough.
Stephen Spence, defending, said the firm had been previously voted Airline of the Year and Best Holiday Airline in Scotland, and there was no suggestion of any danger to passengers.
He said even without gauges operating properly, pilots can assess the power of the thrust from engines by a different method, involving manual calculations.
"Some people would say the pilot had to work for his living," said Mr Spence. But he added that the company had not "turned a blind eye" to the incident.
Two senior officials with the company have since been replaced and the court was told that the company has co-operated with the CAA.
Judge Daber said the regulations were for the "health, safety and well-being of fare-paying passengers".
He added that a message had to be given that breaches such as this cannot be tolerated. No date for sentencing has yet been scheduled.
The full article contains 400 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
