Era Aviation Grounds All Aircraft for Upgrades

Jay Barrett/KMXT

Era Aviation grounded all of its aircraft Saturday afternoon after a Federal Aviation Administration investigation revealed cockpit voice recorders didn’t meet regulatory standards.
Both FAA officials and company spokesman Steve Smith said the cockpit recorders were not up-to-date and needed to be replaced.
The FAA investigation stemmed from an incident earlier this month when an Era Dash-8 flying from Anchorage to Homer suddenly dropped 5,000 feet, from 12,000 to 7,000 feet, before the pilots were able to regain control.
Smith said passengers were being rerouted onto other carriers or later Era flights, and many were put up in hotels after being stranded in Anchorage.
Hageland Aviation planes weren’t affected by the grounding.
Smith said the company has already gotten the new cockpit voice recorders, but a fix could take several days.