American Eagle pilot suspended after lying about background
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American Eagle pilot suspended after lying about background
From the NY Post today:
EXCLUSIVE
A pilot for a commuter airline that flies out of all three New York airports was grounded after telling multiple lies about his background to make himself look a poster boy for his industry in a magazine profile, The Post has learned.
Timothy Martins, who flies for American Eagle, told the magazine, published by his union, that he’s an active member of the New Jersey Air National Guard, an FDNY firefighter and a graduate of an aviation school on Long Island.
None of it was true, officials of the agencies said.
The safety of regional commuter carriers and their pilot training came under heavy scrutiny after a Colgan Air jet crashed near Buffalo last February, killing 50 people.
Many of the smaller carriers pay their pilots peanuts, give them insufficient rest time between flights and make them commute thousands of miles.
The story about Martins was written, in part, to counter the bad publicity resulting from the crash and other highly embarrassing incidents — including an airliner overshooting Minneapolis while its pilots chatted about their schedules.
Andrea Huguely, a spokeswoman for American Eagle, which is owned by American Airlines, refused to comment on the allegations.
But she insisted that Martins holds all the required FAA certifications for his job as a first officer. There’s no indication he lied to his employer about his background.
Martins, who has been grounded, did not respond to a call and an email requesting for comment.
The controversy began after the lengthy article appeared in the April edition of the Air Line Pilots Association magazine.
Questions about his claim to be an F-16 pilot in the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard soon began circulating on the Internet.
Major Yvonne Mays, spokeswoman for the Jersey Guard, said it didn’t "have any record of a pilot" named Martins.
The 24-year old, who is from Long Island, also claimed to be a firefighter and paramedic in New York. But an FDNY spokesman said, "He’s not a firefighter, he has not worked for our department."
Dowling College confirmed that Martin attended the school, but said he did not graduate and his years of attendance do not correspond to the dates he said he was there.
Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said if Martins lied, it should be of concern to American Eagle.
"Anyone who is charged with a responsibility for transporting the lives of other people safely who is evidently intentionally fabricating or embellishing credentials or falsifying stories, that’s obviously a terrible problem that should be of concern to the airline," he said.
An ALPA spokeswoman declined comment.
Christine Negroni’s Web site is thecrashdetectives.com
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/american_eagle_pilot_suspended_after_soKJR4zQDHGxRYoin99RbI# ixzz0jugBb8x7
EXCLUSIVE
A pilot for a commuter airline that flies out of all three New York airports was grounded after telling multiple lies about his background to make himself look a poster boy for his industry in a magazine profile, The Post has learned.
Timothy Martins, who flies for American Eagle, told the magazine, published by his union, that he’s an active member of the New Jersey Air National Guard, an FDNY firefighter and a graduate of an aviation school on Long Island.
None of it was true, officials of the agencies said.
The safety of regional commuter carriers and their pilot training came under heavy scrutiny after a Colgan Air jet crashed near Buffalo last February, killing 50 people.
Many of the smaller carriers pay their pilots peanuts, give them insufficient rest time between flights and make them commute thousands of miles.
The story about Martins was written, in part, to counter the bad publicity resulting from the crash and other highly embarrassing incidents — including an airliner overshooting Minneapolis while its pilots chatted about their schedules.
Andrea Huguely, a spokeswoman for American Eagle, which is owned by American Airlines, refused to comment on the allegations.
But she insisted that Martins holds all the required FAA certifications for his job as a first officer. There’s no indication he lied to his employer about his background.
Martins, who has been grounded, did not respond to a call and an email requesting for comment.
The controversy began after the lengthy article appeared in the April edition of the Air Line Pilots Association magazine.
Questions about his claim to be an F-16 pilot in the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard soon began circulating on the Internet.
Major Yvonne Mays, spokeswoman for the Jersey Guard, said it didn’t "have any record of a pilot" named Martins.
The 24-year old, who is from Long Island, also claimed to be a firefighter and paramedic in New York. But an FDNY spokesman said, "He’s not a firefighter, he has not worked for our department."
Dowling College confirmed that Martin attended the school, but said he did not graduate and his years of attendance do not correspond to the dates he said he was there.
Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said if Martins lied, it should be of concern to American Eagle.
"Anyone who is charged with a responsibility for transporting the lives of other people safely who is evidently intentionally fabricating or embellishing credentials or falsifying stories, that’s obviously a terrible problem that should be of concern to the airline," he said.
An ALPA spokeswoman declined comment.
Christine Negroni’s Web site is thecrashdetectives.com
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/american_eagle_pilot_suspended_after_soKJR4zQDHGxRYoin99RbI# ixzz0jugBb8x7
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A commuter pilot from Long Island full of B.S.? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you...
Anyway, someone claiming to be him makes a mild apology in post #67 of this thread:
EPIC Thread - Fighter Pilot Poser exposed - Baseops Forums - Page 4
A lot of healthy discussion in PPRune's sister forum here:
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/mi...-magazine.html
And, of course, a Facebook fan page:
Welcome to Facebook | Facebook
Anyway, someone claiming to be him makes a mild apology in post #67 of this thread:
EPIC Thread - Fighter Pilot Poser exposed - Baseops Forums - Page 4
A lot of healthy discussion in PPRune's sister forum here:
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/mi...-magazine.html
And, of course, a Facebook fan page:
Welcome to Facebook | Facebook
Last edited by Airbubba; 2nd Apr 2010 at 10:40.
and make them commute thousands of miles
Maybe he should have just told them he was a piano player in a whorehouse. He might have gotten more respect...
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This doesn't reflect very well on ALPA journalists' research skills, either.
While lying about this sort of thing doesn't necessarily mean that a pilot has lied about safety-critical things, people who lie tend to do it in all sorts of contexts, so if someone lies about this, he has probably lied about a lot of other things, irrespective of their importance to safety.
While lying about this sort of thing doesn't necessarily mean that a pilot has lied about safety-critical things, people who lie tend to do it in all sorts of contexts, so if someone lies about this, he has probably lied about a lot of other things, irrespective of their importance to safety.
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So while there's obviously two sides to a story, I have mixed feelings about this whole ordeal. True or not; I fail to see how being a firefighter/paramedic/church-volunteer/fighterpilot makes you a better commercial air transport pilot. To me, that sort of professionalism starts with realising and being open about your own shortcomings rather than positive traits. The question also arises, how on earth does anyone have time to do all of the above things in the 24 hours provided each day? 
Below the Glidepath - not correcting
The Delta guy who recommended him must be feeling a bit gun shy right now. It also speaks volumes for the ALPA Code of Ethics Role Model program, who else in aviation has never practiced the "trust, but verify" code?
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ALPA magazine on a roll . . .
It's just incredible how ALPA editors and writer Jan W. Steenblick suck up such impractical reality dished out by this wonder boy.
-flies American Eagle jet as copilot
-flies F16s
-works as a fire fighter
-works as a paramedic
-works as a Critical Incidence Response Team volunteer
-works as a mentor for new hires at American Eagle
-works in the food pantry of a church as a volunteer
-helps build homes for the Habitat Humanity Program
. . . .Hellooooooooo
-flies American Eagle jet as copilot
-flies F16s
-works as a fire fighter
-works as a paramedic
-works as a Critical Incidence Response Team volunteer
-works as a mentor for new hires at American Eagle
-works in the food pantry of a church as a volunteer
-helps build homes for the Habitat Humanity Program
. . . .Hellooooooooo
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"Many of the smaller carriers pay their pilots peanuts, give them insufficient rest time between flights and make them commute thousands of miles..."
What's that saying about paying peanuts?? What do you get?
What's that saying about paying peanuts?? What do you get?
spectacularly embarassing