I know some people come on here occasionally looking for advice on chartering airplanes, and maybe more lurk here. If so, be careful! The charter industry is really starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel for pilots, and a shiny paint job and nice interior really doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the crew. Furthermore, working through a broker like JetSmarter or others won't help much, either. I decided to post this after reading extensively about the Learjet crew who crashed at Teterboro last summer. Both were extremely weak pilots, and had criminal convictions in their past history! They went from Teterboro to Bedford MA, picked up some passengers, and flew them to Philadelphia, The passengers decided to drive to New York because the landing in Philadelphia was so rough! To make matters worse, the charter company involved had Argus Gold, which is theoretically an indicator of quality, but more accurately is an indicator that the charter company paid the fees... I would suggest only going with a very reputable, large, charter company at this point. EJM, Solairus, there are probably a few others, but stay away from the "deals" for sure! And watch out for the brokers... make sure the airplane is actually operated by the company you are speaking with.
Bravo!!!!! I have been flying PIC on charter private jets for the the last 20 years out of the busiest non commercial airport in the US (VNY). Never failed a checkride, no DUIs, no arrests, no bankruptcies etc. Heck, I dont even cheat on my wife! The airlines have sucked up a ton of charter pilots and its not gonna get better for the next decade. Corporate pilot compensation and benefits have jumped in the last 18 months.....and it isnt slowing down. The experienced pilots are going to the airlines or PT 91 jobs. My owner treats me like gold and we understand each other. My advice for any charter customer is to go directly to the operator, no broker, ever. Then demand to see hours in type or a resume. When the PIC checks your ID, check his/hers. ARGUS and Wyvern have minimums....but they are minimums. I wouldnt fly as a customer with a PIC with less than 5,000 total time, 3,000 PIC and 1,000 in type. Period, ever.
And good luck finding anyone with those qualifications flying a small jet! Or anything less than a newer large cabin or super-midsize.
That's just the CVR. Only the beginning... read the interviews, and look at the training records, and you'll really see how bad it was.
Full docket is here: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/hitlist.cfm?docketID=60373&CFID=1479093&CFTOKEN=1ee3edc132deacc4-6FEBBE90-9B6B-FFF6-4BB1D7E1A8C1647A
