Two Florida congressmen are calling on the FAA to make its investigation of Lantana-based Kemper Aviation a priority. Last Thursday company owner Jeff Rozelle and three passengers died when the Cessna 172 they were in crashed. It was the third crash of a Kemper aircraft since October and there have been a total of eight deaths. "On its face, with all these accidents, common sense would tell you this company has some problems and something is wrong," Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, said. He and Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, have written the agency asking for urgent action on an already existing probe into the company, which suspended operations after Thursday’s crash.
However, the agency is apparently unmoved by the political pressure and will continue its investigation. "We can't determine if any enforcement action is necessary until that inspection has been completed," FAA spokesman Warren Woodberry told The Associated Press. Rozelle was flying three biologists on a bird survey when the aircraft went down. Earlier accidents involved students. On Oct. 27, and instructor and two students reported engine trouble on a night flight and were killed in the subsequent crash. On Dec. 8, a student from India died in a midair collision with a Twin Comanche in the Everglades.
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Two Florida congressmen are calling on the FAA to make its investigation of Lantana-based Kemper Aviation a priority. Last Thursday company owner Jeff Rozelle and three passengers died when the Cessna 172 they were in crashed. It was the third crash of a Kemper aircraft since October and there have been a total of eight deaths. "On its face, with all these accidents, common sense would tell you this company has some problems and something is wrong," Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, said. He and Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, have written the agency asking for urgent action on an already existing probe into the company, which suspended operations after Thursday’s crash.
