WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes a $5.89 million civil penalty against Humes McCoy Aviation of Atlanta, Ga., for conducting hundreds of allegedly illegal charter flights.

The FAA alleges Humes McCoy operated a Cessna Caravan, Beechcraft Super King Air and CASA 212-200 on a total of 270 illegal cargo flights in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The flights were illegal because the company did not have a commercial operating certificate, advertised and offered to perform operations that required such a certificate, received compensation for the flights, and used pilots who had not passed required tests and flight-competency checks, the FAA alleges.

Additionally, the company did not have an approved pilot training program and hazardous materials training program, and failed to provide initial and recurrent hazardous materials training to all its crew members, which are required for those types of operations.

The 270 flights occurred between Raleigh-Durham Airport, Albert J. Ellis Airport, Coastal Carolina Regional Airport, Dare Country Regional Airport in North Carolina; Columbia Metropolitan Airport and Beaufort County Airport in South Carolina; and Eastern Iowa Airport and Spencer Municipal Airport in Iowa. The FAA alleges these flights were careless or reckless so as to endanger lives or property.

Humes McCoy has 30 days after receiving the FAAs enforcement letter to respond to the agency.