Openings Started in Jet Company Trial in NJ
Federal Indictment charges co-founders and the head of maintenance with fraud conspiracy, lying to investigators and endangering the safety of an aircraft.
NEWARK, N.J.Opening statements are getting under way at the federal trial of three officials from a charter jet company whose plane crashed on takeoff at a New Jersey airport in 2005.
Platinum Jet Management, which was based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., operated the plane that failed to takeoff in February 2005 at Teterboro Airport, smashing into a warehouse, starting a fire and causing 20 injuries, four of them serious.
A federal indictment charges Platinum co-founders Michael and Paul Brassington and the company's head of maintenance with fraud conspiracy, lying to investigators and endangering the safety of an aircraft.
Three other company officials have already pleaded guilty.
The defendants are accused of illegally running commercial flights and falsifying documents.
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