Aviation authority accused of examining wrong accounts on pilot school

Parents of the trainee pilots left up to €80,000 out of pocket by the collapse of a Waterford pilot school have accused the Irish Aviation Authority of examining the wrong accounts when re-licensing the school last year.

According to the parents, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) investigated the accounts of Pilot Training College Waterford’s holding company, Shemburn, rather than PTC’s own accounts when analysing the financial health of the company last October.

Six months later, PTC Waterford collapsed, leaving nearly 300 students out of pocket and stranded in Florida.

As part of a relicensing process, the IAA is charged with ensuring the company is in sufficient financial health to ensure student pilots can be trained safely during a licensing period.

However, since the school collapsed it has repeatedly argued that it does not provide consumer protection to students as it has “no remit to monitor commercial operations” and “no role in relation to student contracts or bonds”.

According to parents Martina and Brian Kealy, freedom of information documentation they have obtained from the Department of Transport shows Shemburn was “in reasonable order” whereas PTC was in debt for over €2m.

The Shemburn accounts did not contain any qualifications by their auditors, who said the company would “continue as a growing concern”. They also predicted “strong growth and profitability” for Shemburn by the end of last year.

Ms Kealy said: “This information from the Shemburn accounts led to the licensing of PTC again for 2012. If PTC accounts had been used and the licence subsequently withdrawn by the IAA from the Pilot Training College as a result, parents would not have lost students’ fees.”

The IAA is refusing to make any further comment about the collapse of PTC and said it briefed the Dáil’s transport committee this week.

At the hearing, IAA chief executive Eamonn Brennan said the agency looked at the Shemburn accounts as it was PTC’s holding company and the “consolidated structure” behind PTC.

The college is being investigated by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Dáil transport committee.