CHALK'S INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES

'Chalk's International Airlines', formerly 'Chalk's Ocean Airways', is an airline based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. It operates scheduled seaplane services to the Bahamas. Its main base is Miami Seaplane Base (MPB), with a hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport^[1].

Contents

History

Destinations

Fleet

Incidents and accidents

External links

References

History

The airline was founded by Arthur "Pappy" Chalk, and started ''ad-hoc'' charter operations in 1917. After "Pappy" Chalk served in the Army Air Corps in World War I, he returned to Miami and commenced scheduled service between Miami and Bimini in the Bahamas in February 1919 as Chalk's Airlines.^[2] During prohibition, Chalk's was a major source of smuggling alcohol from the Bahamas to the United States.^[3]
In 1926 a landfill island, Watson Island, was created in Biscayne Bay close to Miami. Chalk's built an air terminal there, and operated from the island for the next 75 years. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the company had to relocate operations due to concerns about port security. Chalk continued to be involved in the daily operations of the airline until he retired in 1975. He died in 1977 at the age of 88.^[4]
In the 1980s Resorts International purchased Chalk's Airlines, which became the primary air carrier to Paradise Island, near the Bahamanian capital Nassau, where Resorts International owned and operated hotels and other resort facilities. Resorts International sold Chalk's in 1991 to United Capital Corporation of Illinois.
United Capital expanded Chalk's service to Key West, Florida. In 1996, United sold Chalk's to a group of investors, who operated the airline under the name Pan Am Air Bridge. In early 1998, Texas-based aircraft lease company Air Alaska purchased 70% of Pan Am Air Bridge, but following the collapse of Air Alaska, Pan Am Air Bridge filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 1999. Later the same month the company re-emerged as Chalk's International Airlines. Chalk's emerged from Chapter 11 under new ownership on August 2 1999. On December 17 1999, the airline was relaunched as Chalk's Ocean Airways. It is wholly owned by Jim Confalone. In 2006 the company reverted to the earlier name of Chalk's International Airlines.
Chalk's operations base was at Watson Island, adjacent to the Port of Miami near downtown Miami, for 75 years, but it moved its base to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after September 11 2001, because of security concerns around the port and increased helicopter traffic around Watson Island.Lush, Tamara. 2007. "Crash of an Icon". ''Miami New Times''. March 22, 2007. P. 2. Found at [1] Retrieved July 4, 2007
The airline suspended operations after the crash of Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 on December 19 2005. The airline had planned to resume flights between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas on November 9 2006,Associated Press, October 29 2006, "Chalk's airline to resume flights 1 year after crash that killed 20". ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel'', p.9B. but its airworthiness certificate issued by the Bahamas had expired.^[5] As of mid-November 2006, it is flying from Fort Lauderdale to Key West and to St. Petersburg, Florida, using aircraft leased from and operated by Big Sky Airlines.^[6]
Chalk's has claimed to be the oldest continuously operating airline in the world, having begun operations in 1917 and scheduled flights in February 1919, and having only ceased operations for three years due to World War II, four months due to 1992's Hurricane Andrew, and eleven months due to a crash on December 19 2005, though this title is usually officially given to KLM of the Netherlands.

Destinations

As of July 2007, Chalk's International Airlines operates scheduled services from Fort Lauderdale to Key West, Florida and to several destinations in the Bahamas, including: Marsh Harbour, Treasure Cay, Freeport, Bimini and Nassau.

Fleet

During 2006 the airline leased conventional Beechcraft 1900D land planes from Big Sky Airlines which were later replaced by Saab 340A and other wet leased aircraft while working with the Federal Aviation Administration to rebuild its fleet of Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallards.^[7]
As of March 2007 the Chalk's International Airlines fleet comprises :

★ 5 Mallard

★ 2 Saab 340A

Incidents and accidents

Main articles: Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101

On December 19 2005, Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini made an unscheduled stop at Watson Island. As the flight was taking off from Watson Island, it crashed off Miami Beach, Florida.^[8][9] Witnesses said they saw smoke billowing from the plane before it exploded, with the right wing separating as the aircraft plunged into the ocean.^[10] Twenty people — 18 passengers and two pilots — were on board. The Coast Guard and Miami Beach Ocean Rescue recovered 19 bodies initially, then two Miami-Dade firefighters fishing on their day off found the 20th victim on December 23.
Investigators later identified cracks in the main support beam connecting the wing to the fuselage.^[11][12] The plane was a Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard, registration N2969, manufactured in 1947. It was the first fatal passenger accident for Chalk's Ocean Airways.
On May 30, 2007, Reuters reported that "The National Transportation Safety Board asserted Chalk Ocean Airways failed to identify and properly repair fatigue cracks on the 1947 Grumman Turbo Mallard. The plane lost its right wing on takeoff for the Bahamas and plunged into the shipping channel adjacent to the Port of Miami on December 19, 2005. The safety board, in its final report on Wednesday on the probable cause of the crash, noted numerous maintenance-related problems on the plane and another company aircraft, raising questions about Chalk Ocean's maintenance practices. 'The signs of structural problems were there but not addressed,' safety board chairman Mark Rosenker said. The safety board also said the Federal Aviation Administration failed to detect and correct the airline's maintenance shortfalls. Regulations exempt older seaplanes from rigorous structural oversight. Chalk Ocean had no comment on the safety board's findings. The FAA said it had no indication Chalk Ocean's maintenance program was in question. 'The regulations are crystal clear that the carrier has primary responsibility for the airworthiness of (its) fleet and that includes making appropriate structural repairs,' the agency said in a statement.

External links

★ Chalk's International Airlines

References

1. Directory: World Airlines
2. The World's Oldest International Airline Retrieved May 27, 2007
3. 12 Said Killed in Plane Crash Off Miami Retrieved May 27, 2007
4. Crash of an Icon Retrieved May 27, 2007
5. 10502 Chalk's Anxious to Fly, ''The Bahama Journal'', November 11 2006
6. Chalk's home page
7. Chalk's International Airlines - Aircraft
8. Families Grieve Seaplane Crash Together, cbs4.com, December 23 2005.
9. All 20 Killed as Seaplane Crashes Off Miami Beach, ''The New York Times'', December 20 2005.
10. Preliminary accident report, National Transportation Safety Board.
11. NTSB releases photos of fatigue cracks from Monday's Chalk's Ocaean Airways crash in Miami, National Transportation Safety Board, December 22 2005.
12. Maintenance issues found at tiny airline, ''USA Today'', June 22 2006.


★ History of Chalk's at answers.com