Reuters
Frontier mechanic charged with disabling jet
Thursday January 2, 8:44 pm ET
By Jeanie Stokes

DENVER, Jan 2 (Reuters) - A Frontier Airlines Inc. (NasdaqNM:FRNT - News) mechanic was charged in federal court in Denver on Thursday with sabotaging a Dallas-bound jet to prevent it from taking off because he thought the aircraft was not safe.

Corydon Van Dyke Cochran, 44, allegedly threw a rubber wheel chock into the running engine of a Boeing 737 after deciding that was the only way to prevent Frontier flight 136 from taking off on New Year's Day.

Cochran, who has been suspended by Frontier pending an investigation, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted, prosecutors said.

According to an affidavit filed with the court by FBI Special Agent Nick Vanicelli, the incident occurred about 12:40 p.m. on New Year's Day as Frontier flight 136 was preparing to depart on a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth.

David Davidson, the pilot of the Boeing 737, was in the cockpit preparing to depart, when he saw Cochran, walk toward the aircraft and throw a wheel chock into the number one engine, which was running, the affidavit said.

Davidson shut down the aircraft, and it was towed back to the gate. A ramp supervisor told the FBI that he also saw Cochran throw the rubber block into the engine.

Cochran had seen a burned-out light on the wing of the jet and was concerned that an inspection that had been done in Tampa the previous day was "probably suspect," Vanicelli told the court.

"Cochran explained that he felt aircraft 313 was unsafe and should have a lightning strike inspection performed on it prior to departing," the affidavit said. "Cochran stated that as the aircraft was being pushed back from the gate, he decided that the only way to keep it from flying was to disable it."

A representative for Cochran, who was released on his own recognizance after the court appearance, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Said Frontier spokeswoman Elise Eberwein, There certainly were other options he probably could have taken to prevent the flight from departing," including notifying the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane had been inspected twice in Tampa on Tuesday night, flown uneventfully to Denver and had been checked out again there for possible damage, Eberwein said.

After the alleged incident, a wheel chock, about two feet long, was removed from the engine during overnight repairs and the plane put back in service.

The 130 passengers aboard the flight were sent on to Dallas on another airplane, Eberwein said.

Good intentions and I like his concern, but aggressive. Other alternatives were available. Lucky no one was injured.

Happy New Year.

A happy New Year to you Cecil! I'm wondering if this mechanic in the past has found that management has been in some way unresponsive when problems are discovered during inspections? I ask myself why he would feel that he would have to go to such an extreme to stop a plane from taking off? I can't disagree with your thoughts Cecil that this certainly wasn't the way to solve the problem. Hopefully we will hear more about this case later. Thanks for the information Chris.

Barbara

CD or Cecil, have either one of you heard anymore about this mechanic- his reasons for going to this extreme, the outcome of the charges against him?