FAA says phosphate flyover did not violate rules

Washington-The Federal Aviation Administration has ruled a flyover of three Southeast Idaho phosphate mines by Idaho’s lieutenant governor, attorney general, and state lawmakers did not violate rules, even though the flight was financed by the Idaho Mining Association (IMA) (GM Oct. 19, p. 13). The FAA held a conference call with Idaho Transportation Department officials on Friday, Oct. 16, about the Sept. 11 trip. The IMA is reimbursing $2,543 to Lt. Gov. Brad Little’s office and denoting it as a lobbying expense. Under Idaho law, private groups are forbidden to directly charter state planes. FAA spokesman Mike Fergus of Renton, Wash., said his agency concluded the trip on Idaho’s 10-passenger King Air did not meet the definition of a commercial charter because Little’s office arranged it with the state transportation department’s aeronautics division, not the IMA. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition questioned the use of a state plane for a lobbyist-financed trip with no phosphate mining critics aboard. The flight has also been criticized in Idaho newspaper editorials. Little cited his monthly $400 travel budget as one reason for accepting IMA money for a trip where he and other officials gained information about phosphate mine expansion and pollution concerns. IMA Executive Vice President Jack Lyman said use of the plane by state officials to tour Idaho mines is legitimate and would have been an appropriate expenditure of state funds. Because of that, he said he did not pursue hiring a private charter company.