FAA grounds cargo company whose plane crashed in Hawaii

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded a cargo company whose plane crashed in the ocean near Hawaii earlier this month.

The agency said in an emailed statement that it took action Thursday night that prevents Rhoades Aviation of Honolulu from “flying or conducting maintenance inspections” until it complies with FAA regulations.

Rhoades operates as Transair. 

The decision was effective midnight local time on Thursday.

The FAA said its decision is separate from its ongoing investigation into the July 2 crash of Transair Flight 810, which was a Boeing 737 cargo aircraft.

The plane was departing from the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. The pilots reported having engine trouble and were attempting to return to Honolulu when they were forced to land the aircraft in water.

The Coast Guard rescued both pilots. The FAA is currently investigating the incident with the National Transportation Safety Board.

The grounding comes after the FAA began investigating Rhoades’s safety and maintenance practices last fall.

The FAA notified the company on June 13 that the agency intends to rescind the airline’s authority for maintenance inspections due to deficiencies identified in the investigation.

Rhoades was given 30 days to ask the FAA to reconsider its decision, which the company did not do, according to the FAA.

As of last night, the company had one operational Boeing 737-200.