FAA proposes fine for Overland Park nonprofit in connection with 2012 crash

Federal regulators have proposed a $66,000 fine against an Overland Park-based organization because a plane it owns was involved in a fatal jet crash in 2012.

The Federal Aviation Administration suggested the fine against Nazarene Aviation Fellowship. A high-performance plane owned by the group was carrying a passenger and flying in formation with another aircraft on May 18, 2012. The second aircraft crashed, leaving its pilot and sole passenger dead.

The Nazarene plane, like the other aircraft, was an Aero Vodochody L-39 jet that had an experimental airworthiness certificate for exhibition and air racing, the FAA said. The model is a Soviet-era military jet first designed for pilot training. It was built in 1974.

An FAA news release issued Tuesday said Nazarene broke federal rules by “operating an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger other people’s lives or property; operating an aircraft in formation flight while carrying passengers for hire; and charging people for rides on an aircraft with an experimental airworthiness certificate.”

In a letter to the group in May, the agency said Nazarene gave permission to pilot David Riggs to use its jet for “FAA mandated check rides” and for “motion picture filming.” His pilot’s license had been revoked three years earlier after he buzzed the pier in Santa Monica, Calif. He lost his license in the wake of the 2012 crash.

FAA documents say the organization’s office is located at 6801 W. 121st St., Overland Park. It has no website.

Farmers Insurance lists the same address for the office of Jerry Brockhaus. He’s also listed as the registered agent for Nazarene Aviation Fellowship on incorporation papers with the state of Kansas. In those documents, the organization said its purpose is to “receive donated aircraft, refurbish & sell, proceeds go to aviation ministries.”

A call to Brockhaus was not returned Tuesday.

This story was originally published July 15, 2014 at 6:14 PM with the headline "FAA proposes fine for Overland Park nonprofit in connection with 2012 crash."