Evergreen faces US$4.9m FAA fine

EVERGREEN International Airlines, the US all-cargo airline, faces a fine of US$4.9m, one of the largest fines the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ever brought against a cargo carrier.
The FAA alleges that Evergreen did not fully train its pilots on the airline’s new flight management computers, resulting in over 230 flights being made in violation of FAA training regulations.
The pilots have since been fully trained.
In a statement, Evergreen’s executive vice-president, Raymond Wright, dismissed both the severity of the fine and the validity of the case, saying it should not have been brought because it represented a good-faith dispute. 
He added that the airline will be "challenging both the substance and the amount of the proposed penalty".
However, the FAA says the airline was "careless or reckless" in not ensuring its pilots were suitably trained. 
FAA’s head, Randy Babbitt, said the fine is appropriate "even though Evergreen now complies with its training programme".