CHICAGO (June 19, 2002) The Federal
Aviation Administration has proposed to
assess a $59,000 civil penalty against
Mesaba Aviation, Inc., Minneapolis, for
allegedly violating Federal Aviation
Regulations.

The FAA alleges Mesaba operated an
aircraft for 24 flights without
performing a required inspection of the
cargo compartment fire extinguisher
circuit, as set forth in Mesaba’s
operations specifications and
maintenance plan.

A Mesaba Saab 340 came due for a
required functional check of the cargo
fire extinguisher electrical circuit at
5,000 aircraft operating hours.  On
July 10, 2000, Mesaba elected to extend
the inspection interval because a
required test instrument was not
available.

An operations specification allows
Mesaba to extend certain inspection
intervals by 10 percent of the
inspection interval, not to exceed 500
operating hours.  However, this
extension does not apply to the
functional test of the circuit, FAA
said.

Mesaba has 30 days to respond to the
FAA civil penalty notice. This
announcement is made in accordance with
the FAA’s practice of releasing
information to the public on newly
issued enforcement actions involving
penalties equal to or greater than
$50,000.

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