ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150083
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
With no campaign flights until this weekend, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole shouldn't be inconvenienced by the Federal Aviation Administration order grounding the airline that had been ferrying him around.
The FAA issued an emergency suspension Monday, grounding Savannah-based AvAtlantic because flight attendants couldn't find the plane's fire extinguisher or life rafts or operate other emergency equipment.
AvAtlantic executives met Tuesday with federal officials, but no agreement was reached, said Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman.
AvAtlantic, which is owned by HCL Aviation Inc., operated seven Boeing 727 jets for charter and lease to other airlines, including one plane used by the Dole presidential campaign, Bergen said.
On Sunday, an FAA inspection found a flight attendant couldn't describe how to use the emergency oxygen equipment and couldn't locate or describe the proper use of the plane's fire extinguisher, emergency oxygen bottle, first aid kit, emergency medical kit or life rafts.
The flight attendant also didn't have a current manual or cockpit key and was unable to describe the preflight inspection, according to the FAA order.
Flight attendants at previous inspections also were unable to describe proper safety equipment and procedures, the FAA said, and inspectors found discrepancies in the airline's records.
Elizabeth Forester, senior vice president for AvAtlantic, said, the company's 100 flight attendants are well trained.
``I'm sure what happened is that they panicked when they saw the FAA inspector.'' she said.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB