Arkansas Democrat-Gazette January
10, 2008
To whom it may concern:
Questions and data regarding the use of the state’s new
Beechcraft King Air, Tail number N390SP.
Was it coincidental that after I filed an FOIA request on
Nov. 17, 2007 asking for specific information regarding the use of the new King
Air and what print material and media advertising in Spanish and the scope of
the distribution by the state police, there appeared shortly thereafter, Dec.
10, 2007 a fragmented account of Gov. Beebe’s flights in the King Air in this
newspaper?
A copy of our FOIA requests can be found at www.arkansasfreedom.com . Reading the FOI response it is obvious that
Col. Phillips/Bill Sadler did not provide all the information requested.
My FOI request only called for the log of the new King
Air. Before the plane was purchased, Gov. Beebe stated he would pay for any
personal use of the state’s airplane. I
FOIed immediately asking the State Police did the new plane have a commercial
ticket as required by FARS 91 and the
answer from Sadler was no. Therefore;
if the Governor flies in the King Air for personal use he is violation of FARS 91. One of the specifics in my FOI request
concerned any personal trips made on the plane.
That question was not answered.
My FOI request for logs dated from May 14, 2007, the
first flight for the new plane, except for a 30 minute instructional flight by
two state police pilots. Your record of
flights for the same period of time showed 52 flights with a Hobbes time of 53
hours, 18 minutes. My numbers taken off
the official logs showed 63hours, 30 minutes…a discrepancy of 10 hours, 12 minutes. The question then becomes, who used the plane
for 10 hours, 12 minutes and for what purpose?
The Hobbes meter showed 105 hours, 30 minutes of flight
time on the first 30 minute training flight.
For a new plane to have logged that many hours before being delivered to
the new owner is curious, i.e. is this large number of hours before delivery of
a new airplane the norm?
The ASP’s stated cost per hour for flying the King Air is
$875. I do not believe this to be an
accurate figure, e.g. the state maintains at least 2 pilots and 2 co-pilots to
fly the King and there are other associated costs not figured in.
On May 30, 2007, W. Phillips, C. Barfield, M. Davidson,
T. Knuckles, J. Howard, and G. Grimes were flown to Huntsville, Arkansas. No charge and no specific answer regarding
the purpose of the flight.
June 26, 2007 Lt. Gov. Bill Halter and one staff member
flew to Rogers, Arkansas. The account
status: Paid. Who paid? How much? And to whom? A violation of FARS 91.
Most of the logs did not indicate the names of the
persons on board and none contained the specific purposes of the flights.
Also troubling is what I regard as more abuse of the
state’s airplane.
1.
Using your account of flights, 12 of those trips
should have been made in an ASP vehicle.
a. Some
of the trips could have possibly been made quicker in a vehicle in the time it
takes to pre-flight the craft, file flight plans, get take-off clearances, etc.
and cost the taxpayer much less.
2.
The Governor takes an inordinate number of state
employees on his trips. Why?
3.
Has he used the new airplane for personal use?
4.
ASP has lighter aircraft and helicopters, and
would save taxpayers thousands of dollars if he would use those instead of the
King Air, e.g. a Cessna 172.
And finally, who is legally authorized to fly in the
state’s new King Air?
If your newspaper would address these concerns, it would
serve to put the Governor on notice that the abuse of the airplane will not be
tolerated by him and others, as done by his predecessor, for so-called “official” and personal
jaunts. A 9 place aircraft is not a play
toy and the citizens need to know what these so-called “official” jaunts are
for, specifically. (“Official Business”
as the only explanation is not sufficient)
I sincerely hope you will do some investigative reporting
on the use of the taxpayer’s airplane.
Kindest regards,
Joe McCutchen
Fort Smith
joeusa@cox.net
