Clipped Wings

Safety lapses ground an airline

For savvy vacationers along the East Coast, the planes with the seagull symbol on their tails were the fastest way to the beach. Provincetown-Boston Airline has become the nation's largest commuter carrier by flying short hops from big cities to resort areas, including such popular runs as Miami to Key West and New York City to Martha's Vineyard. While a few travelers may have had jitters about some of the older planes in PBA's fleet, the airline has enjoyed stunning growth. In the first nine months of this year, the company posted profits of $3.3 million, compared with $2.3 million for all of 1983. Last week, though, all of PBA's planes sat idle on their tarmacs after the Federal Aviation Administration took the unusual step of revoking the airline's operating certificate.

The agency said that PBA was guilty of potentially dangerous cost-cutting practices. Among other violations, the FAA contended that the airline falsified safety records, failed to train its pilots properly, postponed aircraft inspections and allowed unqualified mechanics to maintain electrical gear. The emergency grounding gives credence to suspicions that were aroused in September by a tragic error. A propeller-driven PBA plane crash-landed and burned shortly after taking off from a Naples, Fla., airport; one passenger was killed and four others were injured. It was the first fatality in PBA's history. FAA investigators found that a member of PBA's ground crew had mistakenly filled the plane's tanks with kerosene jet fuel instead of aviation gasoline, which caused the engines to stall.

The FAA also revoked the pilot's license of Chairman John Van Arsdale Jr. He. was charged with failing to land a plane promptly after it developed troubles in its hydraulic controls. Van Arsdale, who has resigned, was replaced by Edwin Putzell, a retired lawyer and PBA board member. "I'm so shocked right now," Van Arsdale said. "I just can't believe it's happening. We had offered to cooperate with [the FAA] in any way they wanted."

This is the first major setback for PBA, which was founded in 1949 by Van Arsdale's father. He started out with flights in a four-seater plane from Boston to Provincetown, a resort community on the northern tip of Cape Cod. Three years later he opened up a Florida operation, based in Naples, to keep his planes busy during the winter. In 1980 Van Arsdale retired and turned over the successful company to his sons John, 40, and Peter, 36, who is currently president. The two siblings took off on an ambitious growth program that has expanded PBA's fleet from 59 planes in 1982 to its current 113. The aircraft vary widely in size, which allows PBA to roll out a larger plane when a flight is overflowing.

The FAA action put 1,500 employees out of work and left five small cities without any scheduled airline service. Many of those familiar with PBA expressed faith in the company. Said Isidore Eisner, manager of the New Bedford, Mass., Municipal Airport: "PBA has a proud and good reputation." Most PBA employees felt that the FAA action had been too drastic. Said Robin Hamilton, who sells charter flights for the airline: "I've never had one minute's hesitation jumping on one of our planes. This is the best job I ever had."

The FAA has recently grounded several small airlines for safety problems. Last year, under FAA pressure, Air Illinois suspended flights for six weeks. Four months after the airline started flying again, it was forced to file for bankruptcy. Whether PBA can survive depends on how quickly and convincingly it can make amends with Government officials. Last week the agency approved PBA's initial plan for bringing its operating procedures into line and allowed the airline to resume some flights. PBA's plan, though, requires the airline to retest its pilots and rewrite its training manual and may take weeks to accomplish. Meanwhile, PBA's competitors are already scooping up its customers.